Water resources — France

The blue curve shows renewable freshwater resources available per capita (internal rivers, aquifer recharge, plus inflows from neighboring countries) — an indicator of relative water scarcity, not actual consumption. It's a long-term estimate, recalculated each year mainly to account for population changes: the underlying physical resource rarely changes from one year to the next.

The dashed green curve shows annual rainfall measured by satellite (Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis) — this genuinely varies each year. For very small countries, this measurement can be less reliable (climate grid resolution).

The purple chart shows actual water withdrawals (agricultural, industrial and domestic consumption combined) — the direct comparison with the blue curve: if withdrawals durably exceed renewable resources, it's a sign of reliance on non-renewable aquifers or desalination.