Difficulty: Summiteer (Level 3)
The Lac des Brenets between France and Switzerland has dried up after a record-breaking hot summer. Locals are asking for help to save the lake.
They have scratched the words “HELP” and “SOS” in the weeds on the exposed lake bed.
The drought has ruined boat tourism, and some question whether the lake will ever return to enduring full health.
“It’s utter despair: no more lake,” said 76-year-old David Favre, who lives in the Swiss village of Les Brenets.
The lake has dried up due to a mix of factors, including geological fissures that drain water underground, below-average rainfall and repeated heatwaves. The months of June, July and August were each the hottest ever recorded in Switzerland since measurements began in 1864.
A task force was set up by French and Swiss authorities in 2022 to explore ways of limiting the water draining into the fissures, but it has not resulted in decisive action.
