The risk of wildfires remains high in open areas across all Walloon provinces, while drought conditions are also putting pressure on water resources despite no major disruption to public water supplies.
The Walloon Taskforce on Drought issued the warning on Tuesday after a meeting on the state of water resources, held under the coordination of the Walloon Public Service (SPW)'s Risk Coordination and Expertise Transfer Centre, known as Cortex.
In forests, the fire risk is expected to be moderate in most Walloon provinces over the coming days and could ease temporarily if forecast rain arrives.
Very localised thunderstorms are possible on Wednesday and Thursday in Upper Belgium and in areas along the French border. However, the SPW warned that any relief would be short-lived, especially as living vegetation is starting to dry out in many places, increasing the risk of fires breaking out.
Wallonia has seen very little rainfall since 1 July but, so far, the dry spell has not caused major problems for public water distribution. Local pressures are emerging, however.
Four municipalities have already introduced restrictions on water use: Manhay, Léglise, Rochefort and Bouillon. Other localities are being monitored and reminded about responsible water use, including Rouvroy, Tournai, Pecq, Celles, Rumes, Antoing, Estaimpuis, Nassogne and Tenneville.
The SPW said all non-navigable waterways require close attention because water flows are very low. In response, the Walloon rural affairs minister is considering suspending hydroelectric plants on non-navigable rivers, using arrangements similar to those introduced in 2020 and 2022.
Measures are also being examined to limit the impact of low water levels on fishing.
Cortex will continue to monitor the situation and will reconvene the drought taskforce on Thursday 23 July for a fresh assessment.
