Swiss ‘steal’ French water

This week pictures of a Swiss army helicopter scooping water out of a French lake in the Jura region of France flew around world media. The water was used to quench the thirst of Swiss cows after a long heatwave which depleted local water supplies. The Swiss army’s actions surprised bathers and drew criticism from French officials in the region. According to the BBC, the Swiss army asked the French air force for permission without asking local authorities. The Swiss army has since apologised.

According to the Swiss newspaper Le Matin the Swiss army stopped as soon as they realised the locals didn’t know of their operation. “As soon as they contacted us, we realised there was a communication problem and stopped immediately.”

More on this:
Swiss army ‘steals’ French water to help cows (BBC in English)
France-Switzerland Рwater theft does a world tour (Tribune de Gen̬ve in French)
Who owns the water around us? (Tribune de Genève in French)

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