Usually popular with tourists at this time of year, the artificial lake in the Alps is hit hard by the drought wave. / Serre-Ponçon lake is drying up
The impact of high heat and lack of rain in France continues to be visible on the level of lakes and rivers. As on the border of the departments of Hautes-Alpes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, where the situation is worsening around the lake of Serre-Ponçon, the largest artificial lake in France.
The proof is with new satellite images this Sunday, February 24, which attests to the accelerated drying of this lake, created in 1959 by the construction of a dam on the Durance.
As Dorian Dziadula, deputy secretary of the Infoclimat association, reveals on Twitter, in the space of two weeks, the lake has lost 3 meters. On the Sentinel-2 satellite images, the drought is clearly visible, as shown by these different shots captured between May 29 and July 23.
An alarming situation, as 86 departments are currently on alert with restrictions on water use, according to data shared this Sunday by the official Propluvia website.
On these other satellite images, the difference between summer 2021 and summer 2022 in France is striking. The drought and the heat have turned the French landscape yellow, without making any real distinctions between the different geographical areas of France.
A deserted tourist spot
Usually popular with tourists during the summer season, the Serre-Ponçon lake is now deserted. The beaches bordering the alpine lake are empty, as evidenced by a report made this Sunday by BFMTV, on the occasion of the village festival of Crots, located on the left bank of the Durance, at the entrance to the lake of Serre-Ponçon. .
In these lakeside images, the effects of the drought are even more evident. The lake is currently experiencing a historically low water level, although a similar situation has already occurred in the summer of 90, as Le Dauphiné recalls.
Encore 3 mètres de perdu en l'espace de 2 semaines au lac de #SerrePonçon où la #sécheresse se confirme de jour en jour.
Évolution entre le 29 mai et le 23 juillet via le satellite Sentinel-2. https://t.co/7ZO8VvWpRi pic.twitter.com/3cF8Akhimv
— Dorian Dziadula (@DorianDziadula) July 24, 2022
Even if it is not unprecedented, the situation at Lake Serre-Ponçon worries tourists and regulars by its scale, as evidenced by these photos shared on social networks since mid-July.
According to information provided by the Hautes-Alpes prefecture, the hydrological situation is considered “worrying”. As such, almost all rivers offer historically low flow values “in this month of July.
The Durance watershed is also placed on “alert” upstream and downstream of Serre-Ponçon. As for the EDF hydraulic dam, it no longer draws water this summer.
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