Question 10792 — streams, ponds and lakes

Summary

Mr. Laurent Alexandre draws the attention of the Minister of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion to a question that he has already submitted for examination by the Minister of Energy Transition in a letter sent in October 2022. This concerns the complex situation surrounding the exploitation of water from the Salles-la-Source waterfall site by the Société Hydroelectric de la Vallée de Salles-la-Source (SHVSS). THE Relations between this company and the citizens of the town have been tumultuous since the beginning of its installation, almost 90 years ago. The renewal of the concession granted to this company at the beginning of the 2010s gave rise to numerous oppositions and an association which was formed to contest this exploitation of the site, “Ranisons la Cascade!” ”, helped to bring to light numerous anomalies. The State intervened in highest place in this file, with the arrival of an inspection mission coordinated by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of the Environment in 2015 to support the state services of Aveyron in processing this file. This mission concluded in its report that it was an “administrative fiasco from the beginning”, thus raising several irregularities. She let the commune decide ultimately on the fate of the hydroelectric installation, which voted during the June 2016 municipal council to close. Following the orders refusing authorization and definitive closure promulgated by the Aveyron prefecture, the company appealed and a long legal procedure followed which has still not been closed to this day. If justice must obviously take its course, the MP thinks that clarification from the Ministry of the Environment would be useful to resolve the situation and contribute to the resolution of this matter. First of all, the MP shares the questions of many stakeholders in the case on the reasons which pushed the State to withdraw from the consecutive legal proceedings even though it was a party in the first instance. He wishes to know the reasons for this withdrawal which leaves the association “Ranimons la Cascade!” » pursue appeals alone judicial with limited resources, despite the commitment of State services in this matter and the conclusions of the ministerial inspection mission. Secondly, one of the key elements of the dispute concerns the question of the company's legal rights which, according to the judges, justify the continued operation of the site. However, according to information provided by the association, a second dam would have been built without administrative authorization and would now be the only one to be active, which raises questions about the legitimacy of the latter to operate and could provide other avenues for judges in the examination of this case. It would be desirable for state services to investigate this point to provide a clear answer. Finally, the MP brought to the attention of the minister, in October 2022, the existence of investments in the site in all likelihood not carried out by the operator despite the purchase obligation contract which binds it to EDF and gives it the right to sale at preferential electricity rates. According to the information available to the MP, the prefect of Aveyron took up this subject and requested clarification from the current manager of the SHVSS. This commitment from the prefecture seems to be going in the right direction, according to the MP. It is why he wishes to know if, in the continuity of the efforts made by the State services in Aveyron, he will, as well as any competent authority, give itself the means to shed light on this issue in order to contribute to its resolution.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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