France-Heatwave: Canals and rivers of waterway of France outside spaces arranged are forbidden to the Bathing
By Era Environnement
The canals and rivers of the public institution, operator of the State in charge of the ecological transition, Voie Navigable de France (VNF), outside landscaped areas are prohibited to bathing. VNF recommends the public to contact the municipal services and tourist offices in advance to know the places arranged and authorized to swim and offers places of authorized swimming and water activities on its website, in a hot summer.
Even if the off-site spaces are a large relaxation and leisure area offering a multitude of supervised activities such as cycling, boating, canoeing, or paddle, swimming is dangerous and, unless there is an exception, it is forbidden to remind the public institution, the State operator in charge of the ecological transition.
The canals and rivers of the public institution, operator of the State in charge of the ecological transition, Voie Navigable de France (VNF), outside landscaped areas are prohibited to bathing. VNF recommends the public to contact the municipal services and tourist offices in advance to know the places arranged and authorized to swim and offers places of authorized swimming and water activities on its website, in a hot summer.
Even if the off-site spaces are a large relaxation and leisure area offering a multitude of supervised activities such as cycling, boating, canoeing, or paddle, swimming is dangerous and, unless there is an exception, it is forbidden to remind the public institution, the State operator in charge of the ecological transition.
No jumping from a bridge
Practiced by some young people in summer, jumping from a bridge, even from a low height is a dangerous activity, the institution said, recalling the formal prohibition to jump from bridges. Concrete blocks, metal piles, pile of rocks hide in the place where its bridges are built. Swimming and boating are also prohibited in the vicinity of dams and locks, due to manoeuvres, work performed and the risk of vortices as well as collisions with commercial or recreational boats. The waterways are mainly dedicated to river navigation.
Note that swimming in the river is only allowed on a case-by-case basis. According to Voie Navigable de France, outside the developed sites, the risks of drowning are real, in particular due to the presence of currents sometimes very violent and unsuspected, lifts sometimes difficult, or poor visibility underwater (limited to a few centimeters), which make the rescue of a bather in immersion very difficult, if not impossible.
Finally, with the meteorological context, the risk of hydrocution is high because of significant temperature variations between air and water, says the public establishment. Every year, many accidental deaths occur in the canals and rivers of France. In 2021, more than 21% of accidental drownings in rivers or bodies of water, accounted for 41% of fatal drownings.
