Lez (Hérault)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lez
The river at Castelnau-le-Lez

The river at Castelnau-le-Lez

Data
Water code FR :  Y32-0400
location France , Occitania region
River system Lez
source in the municipality of Les Matelles,
43 ° 43 ′ 5 ″  N , 3 ° 50 ′ 39 ″  E
Source height approx.  110  m
muzzle on the southern outskirts of Palavas-les-Flots in the Mediterranean Coordinates: 43 ° 31 ′ 32 "  N , 3 ° 56 ′ 7"  E, 43 ° 31 ′ 32 "  N , 3 ° 56 ′ 7"  E
Mouth height 0  m
Height difference approx. 110 m
Bottom slope approx. 3.7 ‰
length 30 km
Catchment area 194 km²
Big cities Montpellier
Small towns Castelnau-le-Lez , Lattes , Palavas-les-Flots
Navigable from the mouth to Lattes
The crossing of Palavas-les-Flots

The crossing of Palavas-les-Flots

The Lez is a coastal river in Hérault in the region Occitania in France . It rises in the municipality of Les Matelles and flows into the Mediterranean at Palavas-les-Flots .

geography

Source du lez

The Source du Lez

The source of the Lez ( Source du Lez ) is located southeast of Les Matelles. The approx. 10 m deep spring pot has a diameter of approx. 30 m and lies below a limestone rock. The flow of the karst spring averages 1040 liters per second and can rise to around 28,000 l / s. Right next to the source was in 1982 a pumping station with four holes for drinking water supply of Montpellier built. This takes up about 1700 l / s. 160 l / s are constantly discharged into the Lez, since otherwise there would be no above-ground runoff if the spring was poured low. For a long time it was believed that the Source du Lez had an underground overflow that would emerge in the nearby Source du Lirou . However, this has been proven wrong.

course

The Lez generally drains south to south-east, crosses the city of Montpellier and the city of Lattes and flows into the Mediterranean after 30 kilometers below Palavas-les-Flots . For the last few kilometers, it runs as a freshwater channel through the lagoon lakes Étang de l'Arnel , Étang de Méjean , Étang de Prévost , Étang du Grec and crosses the canal du Rhône à Sète at the same level .

Places on the river

Tributaries

The main tributaries of the Lez are (downstream):

  • Lirou (left)
  • Lironde (right)
  • Verdanson (right)
  • Mosson (right)

shipping

The river was expanded in the 17th century under the name Canal de la Grave for shipping to Montpellier over a length of about ten kilometers with three locks . In 1942, shipping on the Lez was completely stopped due to increasing siltation. In the meantime, work is being done to restore this canal, with the section to Lattes, where a new port facility for pleasure craft has been built under the name Port Ariane , is already in operation again.

Flora and fauna

The headwaters of the Lez are the only habitats for the petit bullhead ( Cottus petiti ), a small freshwater fish.

Web links

Commons : Lez  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Source geoportail.fr (1: 32,000)
  2. ↑ mouth geoportail.fr (1: 32,000)
  3. ↑ a b c The information on the river length is based on the information about the Lez at SANDRE (French), accessed on November 2, 2011, rounded to full kilometers.
  4. ↑ Cottus petiti on Fishbase.org (English)