The Ourse, or Ourse de Ferrère, is a French

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

, a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

Garonne The Garonne ( , ; Catalan language, Catalan, Basque language, Basque and , ; or ) is a river that flows in southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux � ...

. It is long. It forms the

Barousse valley The Barousse is a small region of southwestern France, including the valley of the Ourse, a left tributary of the Garonne, in the Hautes-Pyrénées, and the smaller valley of Siradan. The main towns are Loures-Barousse and Mauleon-Barousse. Top ...

Geography

According to the

Sandre Sandre stands for ''Service d’administration nationale des données et des référentiels sur l’eau'', or National Service for Water Data and Common Repositories Management of France. The Sandre service establishes the common water data languag ...

, its mother-course is the ruisseau de Seuès which begins at 1,770 m high, NNW of the lac de Crouès.Géoportail
/ref> After a few km, it is joined left by the Salabe runlet and then becomes l'Ourse de Ferrère, which joins l'Ourse de Sost at

Mauléon-Barousse Mauléon-Barousse (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées Departments of France, department in south-western France. Geography Climate Mauléon-Barousse has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cfb''). The ...

and then becomes l'Ourse. It joins the

left bank at 441 m high in the commune of

Loures-Barousse Loures-Barousse (; ) is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France. See also * Communes of the Hautes-Pyrénées department * Barousse valley The Barousse is a small region of southwestern France, including the valle ...

. The stream length of the path « Ruisseau de Seuès-Ourse de Ferrère-Ourse » is 25.4 km, for a

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

of 139 km². L'Ourse runs through 13 communes in the

Hautes-Pyrénées Hautes-Pyrénées (; Gascon/ Occitan: ''Nauts Pirenèus / Hauts Pirenèus'' awts piɾeˈnɛʊs ; alts piɾiˈneʊs ) is a department in the region of Occitania, southwestern France. The department is bordered by Pyrénées-Atlantiques to t ...

, all located in the canton of Mauléon-Barousse, from high to low :

Ferrère Ferrère (; ) is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Hautes-Pyrénées department A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or othe ...

, Ourde,

, Troubat, Bramevaque,

Gembrie Gembrie is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Hautes-Pyrénées department A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other deriv ...

, Antichan, Créchets, Anla, Aveux, Sarp,

Izaourt Izaourt is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France. See also * Communes of the Hautes-Pyrénées department * Barousse valley The Barousse is a small region of southwestern France, including the valley of the Ourse ...

, et

. It has 20 tributaries recorded by the

, of which two are more than 5 km long : * the Salabe, 6.0 km, left bank, * l'Ourse de Sost, 12,4 km, right bank.

References

{{Reflist Rivers of France Rivers of Occitania (administrative region) Rivers of Hautes-Pyrénées