The mountain village of Aiglun has withdrawn from the Parc Naturel Régional des Préalpes d'Azur, accusing the park of failing to defend the Vegay waterfall against water sources it says are being drained faster than they can recover, according to Wild Legal.
The waterfall, at 140 metres one of the department's tallest, has weakened year on year as climate change intensifies drought conditions while three water catchments draw heavily from its springs. In periods of high demand, the vallon runs dry and the aquatic habitats within it disappear, according to the village. On June 5, Aiglun's council went as far as naming the waterfall an honorary citizen in recognition of what it called its immeasurable benefits to the community, before voting to leave the regional park.
Mayor Anthony Salomone and residents filed a supplementary brief with the Nice administrative court on July 6, seeking a legal minimum flow rate for the Vegay stream and arguing that a natural environment's water needs should be recognised as a fundamental right. The case builds on an August 2025 filing that sought to establish the springs and vallon as holding their own legal personality, capable of being defended in court independently of any human claimant.
The council has also given the Communauté de Communes des Alpes d'Azur an ultimatum over a separate water syndicate, threatening to withdraw from that body too unless it addresses ageing infrastructure that the village says leaks away more than half of all water captured.