Climate emergency

The meeting this evening to discuss the dire situation around water resources locally, specifically with regard to viticulture. In our village the harvest this year was the lowest ever, unsustainable, and nearly a quarter of the vines have been pulled up because of the drought conditions (some, not all, will be replanted). A visiting hydrologist dug a trench, and said that without irrigation the vines would die. But the local authorities are pulling together and searching urgently for ways of irrigating the vines, preferably without affecting already limited potable water supplies.

This morning I took S to the airport to visit his mum. On the way we called in on friend J-L, who has been cultivating our small plot of vines for the last 20 years, but is now retiring. In 2024, from his 5 hectares of vines, he collected 10 tonnes, which earned him 1000 euros. Clearly untenable -- a few years ago it would have been ten times that, and now it's less than it costs him to cultivate them. No wonder no-one wants to take it over.

Anyway. When I left the meeting, it was raining, ironically enough ...