Explore2

Explore2 is the programme that produced France’s reference hydrological projections. Launched in July 2021 and conducted until 2024 with a budget of €2.2 million, it is led by INRAE and the International Office for Water, with co-funding from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the French Biodiversity Agency. Its results for 2071-2100: summer river flows fall by around 30% on the national average, with declines of around 50% in south-western France and the Alps and 40% in the Mediterranean area; winter groundwater recharge rises in the Paris Basin and northern France but falls in Brittany, Poitou-Charentes, Tarn-et-Garonne and Alsace; the proportion of watercourses running dry between July and October rises from 15% to 25%; and the area affected by a once-in-ten-years drought increases by a factor of 3. These data inform PCAET vulnerability assessments, water management plans and assessments of pressure on industrial processes that use water. They are accessible through DRIAS-Eau.