Lac de Serre-Ponçon

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Lac de Serre-Ponçon

Location	Hautes-Alpes
Coordinates	44°31′N 6°21′ECoordinates: 44°31′N 6°21′E
Lake type	artificial lake
Primary inflows	Durance, Ubaye
Primary outflows	Durance
Catchment area	3,600 km²
Basin countries	France
Max. length	20 km
Max. width	3 km
Surface area	28 km²
Water volume	1.2 km³
Surface elevation	max. 780 m

Lake Serre-Poncon (Lac de Serre-Ponçon) is a lake in southeast France; it is one of the largest artificial lakes in western Europe. The lake gathers the waters of the Durance and the Ubaye rivers, flowing down through the Hautes-Alpes and the Alpes du Sud to the Rhône River. The waters are dammed by the Barrage de Serre-Ponçon, a 123 m high earth core dam.

As well as water control, sixteen hydroelectric plants use the water and the lake provides irrigation to 1,500 km² of land.

[edit] 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 3 million m³ 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's movie "l'eau vive", starring Guy Beart.

Neighboring communes: