Thread by @JoanieLemercier

Every year, climate change is impacting more and more river levels and water cycles.

📷 The river Loire dried out last summer.

In France, the industrial agro-business is stealing underground water: they pump it into private ponds, the "mega-bassines".

We already have solutions to adapt our food production system to the impacts of climate change.

But privatizing water ain't one of them.

👉 Article from @BonPote in 🇫🇷.

bonpote.com/les-mega-bassi…

This weekend, I'm in #SainteSoline where farmers and activists are joining forces to oppose the privatization of water for the few.

Get ready for a wild ride 🧵

#NoBassaran

The activists have teamed up with a farmer to secretly plan a legal camp !

#NoBassaran

Hundreds of people are joining !!

Day 1 was 🔥

How it started / How it's going

Farmers and activists defending water.

#NoBassaran 💧

✊ #NoBassaran

with @PartagerCSympa

#SainteSoline

There are people all the way to the horizon.

#SainteSoline

Protesters against the privatization of water.

We're heading to the #Mégabassines, where the agro-industrial lobbies are stealing ground water.

The mood is great, this is a symbolic action to show our support to farmers for a more reasonable, healthier, agriculture.

#SainteSoline

30,000 people are demonstrating peacefully to oppose the agro-industrial lobby.

Here's one group, the "blue finger", departing from the camp.

#NoBassaran

Great mood, people are carrying a big wooden bird sculpture, many are singing !

Even the Mud wizard from #Luetzerath is here !

🧙@MonchLutzi

When the first group arrived near the #megabassines, this happened:

Tear gas started falling off the sky.

Tear gas was shot by police on quads, to prevent people from approaching the #megabassines.

These attacks from the police were totally unnecessary and unjustified.

#megabassines #SainteSoline

Many families, children and elderly people were protesting peacefully when this happened.

#megabassines

Finally we're arriving at the #megabassines.

The scale is unbelievable.

Agro-industrial lobbies
want to pump (steal)
650 000 m3 of ground water
into this #megabassines

😱

No comment

An independent reporter is shot with a grenade.

Look at the scale of this 🤯

#megabassines #SainteSoline

Most people who travelled here didn't expect such violence.

#SainteSoline

So after such brutal and unjustified assault of protesters from the police, some blackbock responded.

It did NOT go well for the Police vehicles.

So much waste.

#SainteSoline

The war of water.

La Bataille des Méga-Bassines : Qui veut la Guerre de l'Eau ?

Version longue:

#BassinesNonMerci

Deuxième journée de mobilisation à #SainteSoline

Version longue:

The amount of resources wasted on Police repression was totally unnecessary:

The #megabassines (behind the smoke) are just a hole in the ground.

Macron's behavior has set most cities in France on fire with the #ReformeDesRetraites 🔥

Macron is now setting the countryside on fire.