Plaine (river)

	Plaine
	The Plaine in Raon-l'Étape
	Data
Water code	FR : A62-0200
location	France Region Grand Est Bas-Rhin department; Vosges department; Meurthe-et-Moselle department ; ;
River system	Rhine
Drain over	Meurthe → Moselle → Rhine → North Sea
source	north of the Donon ; 48 ° 31 ′ 6 ″ N , 7 ° 10 ′ 1 ″ E
Source height	750 m
muzzle	at Raon-l'Étape in the Meurthe coordinates: 48 ° 24 ′ 27 ″ N , 6 ° 50 ′ 23 ″ E 48 ° 24 ′ 27 ″ N , 6 ° 50 ′ 23 ″ E;
Mouth height	approx. 280 m
Height difference	approx. 470 m
Bottom slope	approx. 14 ‰
length	34.3 km
Catchment area	126.6 km²

The Plaine is a 34 km long right tributary of the Meurthe in the Grand Est region . It flows through the French departments of Bas-Rhin , Vosges and Meurthe-et-Moselle .

geography

course

The Plaine rises north of the Donon at an altitude of 750 m near Grandfontaine .

The course of the river is generally oriented from northeast to southwest. It forms the border between the Meurthe-et-Moselle and Vosges departments over almost its entire length. It flows through Raon-lès-Leau , Raon-sur-Plaine , Luvigny , Vexaincourt , Bionville , Allarmont , Celles-sur-Plaine and Raon-l'Étape .

The Plaine finally flows into the Meurthe as a right tributary at Raon-l'Étape . The river gave its name to the former Communauté de communes de la Vallée de la Plaine , under which nine municipalities in the two departments were united. The average gradient is 1.62%, with the gradient of the individual sections of the river being very different:

Sections of the Plaine
section	length	Height (top)	Height (below)	Difference in height	Average gradient
Source – Raon-sur-Plaine	5625 m	755 m	435 m	320 m	5.69%
Raon-sur-Plaine-Luvigny	2250 m	435 m	400 m	35 m	1.56%
Luvigny – Vexaincourt	2425 m	400 m	390 m	10 m	0.41%
Vexaincourt – Allarmont	2750 m	390 m	346 m	44 m	1.60%
Allarmont – Celles-sur-Plaine	6250 m	346 m	315 m	31 m	0.50%
Celles-sur-Plaine-La Trouche	6125 m	315 m	300 m	15 m	0.24%
La Trouche-Raon-l'Etape	3800 m	300 m	281 m	19 m	0.50%

Backwaters

The most important tributaries are, from source to mouth:

on the left bank
- Goudiots
- Ruisseau de la Maix
- Ruisseau de Ménombru
- Ruisseau de la Sciotte
  - Ruisseau de la Haute Sciotte
  - Grand Goutty
- Ruisseau de Grand Roué
  - Fontaine de Riangoutte
  - Fontaine du Coquin
  - Fontaine des Boeufs
  - Fontaine de Letté
- Ruisseau de Benameix
- Ruisseau de Derzonnier
  - Fontaine des Chevreuils
  - Fontaine des Oiseaux
  - Fontaine du Pré Cerisier
on the right bank
- Ruisseau de Requival
- Ruisseau de Rambiroche
- Ruisseau du col de la Borne
- Ruisseau de la Chapelotte
- Ruisseau du Haut des Planches
- Ruisseau de Chararupt
- Ruisseau du Vieux Pré
- Ruisseau de Vohné
- Ruisseau de la Forge Evrard
- Ruisseau du Charmois

Reservoirs

In the vicinity of Celles-sur-Plaine is the Lac de la Plaine , a reservoir with an area of 29 hectares and the even larger Lac de Pierre-Percée , which were opened by EDF in 1983 .

Hydrology

The Plaine is a constant river, like most of the watercourses in the Vosges. The discharge of the river has been measured slightly above its mouth in Raon-l'Étape since 1970, which takes into account a catchment area of 116 km², i.e. more than 90% of the entire catchment area of 127 km². The average flow rate at this measuring station is 2.25 m³ / s.

This flow rate is subject to seasonal fluctuations. The highest values occur from autumn to spring and are between 2.36 and 3.12 m³ / s; the maximum is reached in February. The values then decrease continuously and reach their lowest value in September with 1.47 m³ / s. The fluctuations can, however, be more extreme in individual years.

Average flow rate (in m³ / s) per month (1970–2008)

The three-day minimum flow rate can drop to 0.4 m³ / s, that is, the average flow rate determined over three consecutive days does not fall below 400 l / s.

Due to the narrowness of the valley, floods can be quite strong. For two- and five-year floods, the flow is 12 m³ / s and 17 m³ / s, respectively. Floods with a ten-year probability of recurrence reach a discharge rate of 20 m³ / s and for floods that statistically recur over the course of twenty years the value is 23 m³ / s. The hydrological office calculated the flow rate of a flood that recurs on average every 50 years, with 26 m³ / s. These values contribute significantly to the values of the Meurthe and reach two thirds of the values of the Madon , another tributary of the Meurthe.

The highest flow rate measured during the observation period was 31.4 m³ / s and occurred on May 26, 1983; on this day the highest throughput on the daily average was achieved with 29 m³ / s. The comparison with the already mentioned average flow rates shows the extraordinary nature of this individual flood.

The Plaine is a river whose size corresponds to many rivers in the Moselle catchment area . The annual runoff coefficient is 613 mm, which is twice the average of all hydrological catchment areas in France and also the Moselle in Hauconcourt near Metz (445 mm) and the Meurthe near Nancy (425 mm). The direct discharge is 19.4 l / s per square kilometer of the basin.

Since the construction of the Vieux Pré dam , the flow of the Plaine has been regulated in order to help cool the Cattenom nuclear power plant in dry periods over the Meurthe and Moselle , as was the case around 2003. As a result, the flow rate of the river is at times significantly affected.

Water quality

The Agence de l'eau Rhin-Meus, which is responsible for the Plaine catchment area, analyzed the water in the river near Raon-l'Étape in 2006 and rated the quality as «bonne» (category 1B). During the years between 1990 and 2006, the water quality was always rated as “bonne” or “très bonne”. In 2006 a slightly increased level of ammonium ions (NH ₄ ) was found. The oxygen saturation is 89% or 8.8 mg / l and is therefore quite satisfactory.

fishes

The Plaine is classified as a first category watercourse along its full length. It is known as trout water. You meet brown trout , grayling and carp fish on. In the Lac de la Plaine and other still waters of the catchment area, pike , perch and rainbow trout can also be found .

history

The Plaine crosses the old county of Salm; when it was divided into a county in the Duchy of Lorraine and the Principality of Salm-Salm in 1751, it served as a border. The left bank became Lorraine and thus French, while the right bank became part of the Holy Roman Empire . Today the river still forms the border between the departments of Meurthe-et-Moselle and Vosges.

Individual evidence

↑ Plaine at SANDRE (French)
↑ ^a ^b see web link: Débits caractéristiques de la Plaine
↑ The term is used locally in the sense of a spring and is often associated with a small basin.
↑ Banque Hydro - Station A6232010 - La Plaine à Raon-l'Étape (Synthèse option)
^ Carte du bassin de la Meurthe ( French ) Fédération des Vosges pour la pêche et la protection du milieu aquatique. Retrieved July 4, 2009.

Web links

Map of the valley ( Memento from October 6, 2003 in the Internet Archive )
Banque Hydro - Station A6232010 - La Plaine à Raon-l'Étape
SANDRE
Débits caractéristiques de la Plaine (PDF, French; 12 kB)

[1] Plaine at SANDRE (French)

[einzug-2] see web link: Débits caractéristiques de la Plaine

[3] The term is used locally in the sense of a spring and is often associated with a small basin.

[4] Banque Hydro - Station A6232010 - La Plaine à Raon-l'Étape (Synthèse option)

[5] Carte du bassin de la Meurthe ( French ) Fédération des Vosges pour la pêche et la protection du milieu aquatique. Retrieved July 4, 2009.