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Unrest In France Over Reservoir Construction, Police Use Water Cannons And Tear Gas On Protesters French police used a water cannon truck and tear gas to disperse climate activists gathered in western France on July 20 to oppose the construction of water reservoirs for agricultural use.Around 3,000 protesters, including environmental activists and anarchist groups, joined the demonstration in the port city of La Rochelle on Saturday, met by heavy riot police presence.The La Rochelle march was the second day of protests in the area, despite a ban by police.On July 19, protesters failed to reach Saint-Sauvant, where a water basin project is being planned.The basins, located in the Deux-Sevres department in the west, and heavily financed by the French state, are designed to store water in winter in order to irrigate crops during increasingly dry summers.The reservoirs are meant to be filled by pumping groundwater to the surface but opponents say they are useless if there is insufficient snow and rainfall in the winter period.They also say storing groundwater in the open exposes it to evaporation and potential contamination by algae and bacteria.Protests against a similar project in March of 2023 had left scores injured, including several critically, as police repelled protestors trying to reach the Sainte-Soline construction site, in the same region.