The Bassin de Lampy was created during 1777 and 1781 when a dam was placed on the Lampy Valley in the

Aude Aude (; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region and named after the river Aude (river), Aude. The departmental council also calls it "Ca ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in south-central

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The reservoir provides a source of water for the

Canal du Midi The Canal du Midi (; ) is a long canal in Southern France (french: le Midi). Originally named the ''Canal royal en Languedoc'' (Royal Canal in Languedoc) and renamed by French revolutionaries to ''Canal du Midi'' in 1789, the canal is considere ...

. It was originally proposed in 1665 by the commission created by

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...

to evaluate

Pierre-Paul Riquet Stele in Toulouse Cathedral Pierre-Paul Riquet, Baron de Bonrepos (29 June 1609 (some sources say 1604) – 4 October 1680) was the engineer and canal-builder responsible for the construction of the Canal du Midi. Background Paul Riquet was b ...

's plan for the canal enterprise. The original reservoir in support of the

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

was at Bassin de St. Ferréol. In 1776 a link was provided between the

and the

Canal de la Robine The La Nouvelle branch (french: embranchement de La Nouvelle)It is also sometimes referred to as or . is a branch of the Canal du Midi in Aude, southern France which runs from the Canal du Midi through Narbonne and on to the Mediterranean Sea, Me ...

Narbonne Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in France, commune in Southern France in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. It lies from Paris in the Aude Departments of Franc ...

. This connection and an increase in barge traffic led to a requirement for more water. A short time after the dam was complete, leaks were found. They were stopped by pouring a large quantity of quick lime into the reservoir. The particles of lime thus suspended and were carried into the leaking areas and filled all the openings in the joints of masonry and even into the stone. The feeder canal from the basin to the canal is 52,552m. The basin covers some 24 hectares and contains some 1,600,000 cubic metres of water. It flows into the Bassin de St. Ferréol.

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Canal du Midi Reservoirs in France