Canéjan, France

In Canéjan, south of Bordeaux (33), a building permit was granted in early 2023 by the town hall for the construction of a surfing pool. A gigantic project, threatening in terms of its potential water consumption and completely inconsistent with current priorities for preserving this resource.

The defenders

Alerted in 2022, the Surfrider Gironde chapter quickly mobilized against the project and met with the city council to obtain more information about it. Upon the announcement of the building permit being approved, a collective was formed, consisting of SEPANSO Gironde, Canéjan en Transition, and supported by around thirty associations. The goal is to study the project and initiate the necessary legal actions to cancel the permit. A petition launched in May 2023 quickly surpassed 30,000 signatures.

Environmental status

The construction of this Surfpark is likely to exacerbate tensions regarding the water resource: the lack of certainty regarding the ability to recover a sufficient amount of rainwater and the current trends in water availability in Gironde, with a decreasing volume of fresh water reserves, raise concerns about the sustainability of such a project. In the context of a climate emergency, this new potential leisure use of the water resource does not appear to be a priority and contradicts the principle of moderation.

Our requests

On July 31, 2023, the associations lodged a complaint to Administrative Tribunal of Bordeaux, once again requesting the cancellation of the building permit. Beyond this administrative process, Surfrider and the collective of associations are calling for the abandonment of this project.