The Flamicell, or Flamisell is a river in the province of
Pallars
Pallars is a historical region, historical and natural region of Catalonia. Located in the Pre-Pyrenees and Pyrenees area, most of its territory is mountainous.
The Noguera Pallaresa river is named after this region.
Geography
The physiography o ...
,
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. It is 34 km long and is a tributary of the
Noguera Pallaresa
The Noguera Pallaresa (; , ) is a river in Catalonia, Spain.
It is named after the Pallars region.
Course
Its source is at ''Era Font d'era Noguereta'' in the municipality of Naut Aran (Aran Valley) at an elevation of about and barely from ...
. This river is known for the variation in flow depending on the time of the year and the meteorological conditions. The flow is also very strong because it brings water from many different lakes, one of them being the Lake Gento (see
Cabdella Lakes). In 1937, the flow was so strong that it destroyed the hydroelectric station in Cabdella and brought to
La Pobla de Segur
La Pobla de Segur () is a municipality located in the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Pallars Jussà, province of Lleida, Catalonia, in northern Spain. It has a population of . It is situated at the confluence of the Flamicell and Noguera Palla ...
a flow of 700 m³/s.
Its name is derived from the Latin word ''flamicellu'' which means small river.
Course
The source of the river is in Cabdella and it flows south passing the town of La Pobleta de Bellvei and the village of La Plana de Mont-ros. Two tributaries join it and the river reaches its maximum width. A few kilometres later it passes La Pobla de Segur and joins the river of Noguera Pallaresa just above the Sant Antoni reservoir.
Hydroelectric energy
This river has been used to generate
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
energy for more than a hundred years. There are four hydroelectric power stations along the river located at La Pobla de Segur, Cabdella, La Plana de Mont-ros and Molinos.
Conditions
This river has a very good
oxygen saturation
Oxygen saturation (symbol SO2) is a relative measure of the concentration of oxygen that is Dissolution (chemistry), dissolved or carried in a given medium as a proportion of the maximal concentration that can be dissolved in that medium at the g ...
of a 77% and 5 mg/L of
nitrates
Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the chemical formula . Salts containing this ion are called nitrates. Nitrates are common components of fertilizers and explosives. Almost all inorganic nitrates are soluble in water. An example of an insol ...
. That indicates that the river is in very good natural conditions.
Fish
The main fish that live in this river is the common trout. It has been confirmed that the 95% of this species, opposite from the salmon, do not reach the sea. Also the 95% of the common trout that live in this river have an average movement of fifty meters. Which means that only a 5% of them travel for distances longer than 500 meters.
References
{{Coord, 42.240452, 0.970219, type:landmark_region:ES-CT, display=title
Rivers of Catalonia
Rivers of Spain