Lac d'Artouste is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; eu, Pirinio Atlantiarrak or ) is a department in the southwest corner of France and of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Pyrenees mountain range and the Atlant ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in the region of

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by ...

. At an elevation of 1997 m, its surface area is 0.56 km².

Geography

Topography

The Lac D'Artouste is a natural lake of glacier origins in the

Ossau Valley The Ossau Valley (French: ''Vallée d'Ossau''; Gascon: ''Aussau'' / ''la vath d'Aussau'') is a valley of the French Pyrénées, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques ''département''. Administration 18 communes belong to the Valley: Arudy, Aste-Béo ...

situated at in altitude. It is bordered on three of its four sides by the

Pyrénées National Park Pyrénées National Park (french: Parc national des Pyrénées) is a French national park located within the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées and Pyrénées-Atlantiques.Le Parc national des Pyrénées (2014). Le Parc national des Pyrénées, un � ...

Hydrography

The lake receives water from the Arrémoulit Creek (coming from the Arrémoulit Lakes), from a serpentine creek coming from the Arrious Lake Peak and from the Batboucou Lakes. The Gave du Soussouéou is fed by the lake. The Lac d'Artouste is also connected to the Migouélou Lake by an 800m gallery currently unused under the Artouste Pass by the Carnau Lakes, and in winter the Lac d'Artouste is also fed by three water cranes situated in the Azun Valley at the foot of the

Balaïtous The Balaitús (Spanish) or Pic du Balaïtous ( French) ( an, Pico Os Moros; oc, Vathleitosa) is a granitic massif of the Pyrenees, located right on the border between Spain and France. Geography Balaitús marks the starting point of the ''High ...

(Batbieilh, Batcrabère et Larribet), of which the water would normally run towards the

gave de Pau The Gave de Pau () is a river of south-western France. It takes its name from the city of Pau, through which it flows. The river is long ( including the Gaves réunis), and its source is at the Cirque de Gavarnie in the Pyrenees mountains. The ...

. The dam also supplies an underground power plant under the dam (73 m drop) with an installed strength equivalent to 2634 kva. The water is then forwarded by a gallery following the rail line (recuperating the waters from each thalweg), up until Sagette, towards the penstocks of the Artouste factory, exploited by the SHEM. Another priority supply brings water by a gallery and a penstock to the Pont de Camps factory located upstream from the Fabrèges Lake.

History

Dam

The natural lake (initially at an altitude of ) was raised by a slightly curved concrete dam 27 m tall put in service in 1929 in order to supply the Artouste hydroelectric power plant in the

. The dam was raised a second time in 1962 in order to augment storage and therefore the producible, and to supply the fall of the Pont de Camps

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an el ...

located upstream from the Fabrèges Lake.

References

Lakes of Pyrénées-Atlantiques {{PyrénéesAtlantiques-geo-stub