The water tower

Water problems have always been endemic in Forcalquier.
In the 1910s, the Basses-Alpes had Louis Andrieux as its deputy (for the record, the father of Louis Aragon).
With his connections in the various ministries, he supported the requests of the Forcalquier councillors and obtained national funds (notably a subsidy from the PMU which was then used to finance public utility operations) for the construction of a water tower which would allow water from the springs to be transported to the town.
Unfortunately, the First World War interrupted these fine projects and the people of Forcalquier had to wait until the end of the war to see the issue brought up again. Work finally began in 14.
And even despite this major project, water continued to be severely lacking and the taps no longer flowed during the height of summer. In fact, it was not until 1965 and the construction of the Laye dam by the Canal de Provence that it was possible to brush your teeth without turning off the tap!
Let us conclude by quoting our historian Jean-Yves Royer: "One of the great sources of anxiety of past centuries now dried up, water ceased to be the subject of an epic to become the object of one bill among others."