Local authorities were puzzled to see several helicopters scooping water out of Rousses Lake in the Jura Mountains in the east of France last Thursday. The sight of military aircraft caused panic among swimmers and fisherman, who reported the incident to the French police.
“It all happened without our knowledge, even though the commune owns the lake. That’s not normal,” Bernard Mamet, the mayor of Les Rousses, told the Swiss 20 Minutes newspaper, adding that flying over French territory without permission could be seen as “illegal.”
Renaud Nury, secretary general of the Jura prefecture, told France Info that local authorities were “astonished” by the Swiss incursion.
“We approached the Vaud [Swiss canton] authorities, who immediately suspended their operation,” Nury said, as quoted by The Local.
Switzerland sent its army helicopters into France as part of a government-funded operation to deliver water to cows in the Swiss Jura and other mountain pastures experiencing water shortages due to a heat wave.
Before turning to neighboring France, the Swiss military had been scooping water from lakes across Switzerland since July 21.
However, the French Jura had their own water restrictions in place due to the same high temperatures and lack of rain.
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The Swiss military said that they had asked the French air force for permission, but the message for some reason wasn’t passed on to the local authorities.
“As soon as they contacted us, we realized there was a communication problem and we immediately stopped,” Denis Froidevaux, a Swiss military representative told the local Le Matin newspaper.
The Swiss army explained that they had chosen Rousses Lake due to its proximity to the troubled cows, as the helicopters could save 15 minutes per flight.
Around 20,000 cows in Switzerland, which relies on milk to produce its branded Tete de Moine and other cheeses, are believed to be in need of drinking water.
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