Lake Serre-Ponçon (french: Lac de Serre-Ponçon, ;

Vivaro-Alpine Vivaro-Alpine ( oc, vivaroalpenc, vivaroaupenc) is a variety of Occitan spoken in southeastern France (namely, around the Dauphiné area) and northwestern Italy (the Occitan Valleys of Piedmont and Liguria). There is also a small Vivaro-Alpine ...

: ''Lac de Sèrra Ponçon'') is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

in the

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; oc, Auts Aups; en, Upper Alps) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population of 141,220 ...

and

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence or sometimes abbreviated as AHP (; oc, Aups d'Auta Provença; ) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the south, Vaucluse to the w ...

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pre ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

, in southeast

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, one of the largest in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

. The lake gathers the waters of the

Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .Ubaye The Ubaye (; oc, Ubaia) is a river of southeastern France. It is long and flows through the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department. Its drainage basin is .Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; oc, Auts Aups; en, Upper Alps) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population of 141,220 ...

and the Alpes du Sud to the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

. The waters are dammed by the , a high earth core dam. As well as water control, sixteen

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

plants use the water (with additional water control supporting), and the lake provides

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

to of land.

History

The lake was created to control water flow after disastrous floods caused severe damage and loss of life in 1843 and 1856. First proposed in 1895, construction started in 1955 and was completed by 1961. During construction of the lake, approximately of material was moved. The dam was constructed and the valley slowly became a lake, flooding some villages in the process. This flooding is the subject of

Jean Giono Jean Giono (30 March 1895 – 8 October 1970) was a French writer who wrote works of fiction mostly set in the Provence region of France. First period Jean Giono was born to a family of modest means, his father a cobbler of Piedmontese descent a ...

's movie ''

Girl and the River ''Girl and the River'' (french: L'Eau vive) is a 1958 French drama film directed by François Villiers. It was entered into the 1958 Cannes Film Festival. Cast In alphabetical order * Henri Arius - The uncle from Cavaillon * Pascale Audret ...

'' (1958), starring Guy Béart. According to the official website of the Muséoscope, the "museum of the largest dam in Europe made of compacted soil", Lac de Serre-Ponçon includes a hydroelectric power plant with a 380 MW generator. In addition to the power plant on the lake itself, the dam provides the reservoir and overall water management to facilitate an additional 15 hydroelectric plants along the

Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .Verdon Verdon may refer to: People * Verdon (surname) Places France * Verdon, Dordogne, in the Dordogne ''département'' * Verdon, Marne, in the Marne ''département'' * Vinon-sur-Verdon, an old French town in the département of Var, Provence-Alpes- ...

rivers in south-eastern France, with total capacity of 2,000 MW. Within the lake is a small

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

, Chapelle Saint-Michel, which was originally built on a hill in the 12th century, destroyed by the army of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy in 1692, and rebuilt soon after. The chapel was originally condemned during the construction of the dam and lake, but survived, its hill becoming an island in the lake. The island is accessible on foot during winter and early spring as the lake is emptier at this period

Geography

Neighboring

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

: * Embrun *

Savines-le-Lac Savines-le-Lac (; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Savina lo Lac'') is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France. Population Twin towns — sister cities Savines-le-Lac is twinned with: * Luserna San Giovanni, Italy See also *Commun ...

Chorges Chorges (; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Chorge'') is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France. It is close to Gap. The name ''Chorges'' derives from Latin ''Catorimagus'', itself coming from the Alpine tribe of the Caturiges in th ...

References

French Department of Industry

External links

*
Local Travel Guide for holidays at Serre-Ponçon
Serre Poncon Serre Poncon Serre Poncon Serre-Poncon {{HautesAlpes-geo-stub