Lac de Pareloup (; oc, link=no, Lac de Paralop; en, Pareloup Lake) 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 ...

Aveyron Aveyron (; oc, Avairon; ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyronnais'' (masculine) or ''Aveyronnaises'' (feminine) in French. The inhabitants ...

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 ...

. It lies on the

Lévézou The Lévézou is a geographical region in the Aveyron department in southern France. It is an impervious crystalline plateau with an average altitude of around 900m. Its highest point is Mont Seigne (1 128 m). Though its borders are not strictly ...

plateau, 25 km south east of Rodez.

Description

At an elevation of 805 m, its surface area is 12.6 km². The impermeable

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

rocks are very suitable for water capture though the undulating landscape alone does not allow the vertical drops needed for power generation. However, in 1950 the barrage was built and a

goit A leat (; also lete or leet, or millstream) is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond. Other ...

dug leading to the

Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat () is a lake in Aveyron, France. At an elevation of 727 m, its surface area is 1.92 km². It lies in the communes of Villefranche-de-Panat and Alrance. Description The Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat is part of an e ...

where the waters drop 461m vertically to the power station at Le Pouget on the Tarn river. This is the fifth largest hydroelectric reservoir by area in France having an area of 1260 hectares. It was formed by creating a dam across the Vioulou, and pumping water 6.4 km, up 80 m from the 53-hectare Bage reservoir on the Bage river and water from the 200 ha

Pont-de-Salars Pont-de-Salars (; Languedocien: ) is a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aveyron department The following is a list of the 285 Communes of France, communes of the Aveyron Depart ...

reservoir on the

Viaur The Viaur () is a river in south-western France. It is a left tributary of the Aveyron. Its source is in the southern Massif Central, north of Millau. It flows generally west through the following departments and towns: * Aveyron: Pont-de-Sala ...

. Waters from Pareloup can be directed either through the downstream Viaur to the power station at Thuries or through a 10.9 km tunnel to the power station at Alrance at the head of the Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat. A small amount (3.5 hm³) is extracted for use as drinking water in Rodez and Ségala. Pareloup has a catchment area of 376 km²: 160 km² from the Vioulou, Gourde and

Céor The Céor () is a long river in the Aveyron department in southern France. Its source is at Salles-Curan, southwest of the ''lac de Pareloup''. It flows generally west-southwest. It is a left tributary of the Viaur, into which it flows at Saint ...

, 216 km² from the Viaur and Bage. The dam at Pareloup is 43.45 m high and 232 m long- it is 15.87 metres thick at its base, tapering to 2.77 m at the rim. It holds back 167 million m³ of usable water.Energie Midi-Pyrénées (1994) Tarn-Viaur

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *

External links

* Pareloup {{Aveyron-geo-stub