Cry for help as French-Swiss lake dries up in record summer heat

The picturesque Lac des Brenets, located between France and Switzerland, has dried up after a record-breaking hot summer, leaving locals pleading for help to save the lake. Words like "HELP" and "SOS" have been scratched into the weeds now thriving on the exposed lake bed. The drought has devastated pleasure boat tourism, and some question if the lake will ever regain its full health.

Local historian David Favre expressed his heartbreak, saying, "It's absolutely heartbreaking. It really is emotionally devastating, because it's utter despair: no more lake." He recalled how, as children, they used to enjoy swimming, fun, diving, and even fishing by the water. However, since the last drought in 2018, the lake has been a recurring disaster, with authorities seemingly abandoning the lake.

The Doubs river, which rises in the French Jura mountains and normally forms the lake, has led to the formation of a 27-meter-high waterfall that has now ceased to flow. The lake's drying up is attributed to a combination of geological fissures, below-average rainfall, and repeated heatwaves. June, July, and August were all the hottest months ever recorded in Switzerland since measurements began in 1864.

Yvan Durig, the owner and captain of the Lac des Brenets navigation company, measures the shrinking basin of water, which has dropped from 25-30 meters to just nine meters. The water level monitoring station, now far from the remaining basin, measures the water level manually. The water level is falling at a rate of 20-22 centimeters per day, and it is expected to surpass the 1906 record low of 15.35 meters within days.

Locals are used to periods of low water, but this particular spell is alarming, with the record low set to be surpassed imminently. A task force was established by French and Swiss authorities in 2022 to find ways to limit the water draining into the fissures, but no decisive action has been taken. Yvan Durig states that action must be taken immediately, as sealing the lakebed is the only viable solution, as waiting years is no longer an option.