For over 10 years, EDF and the S.M.A.D.E.S.E.P. have been working to make navigation safer at the tail of the Embrunaise reservoir. This project, of shared interest for the development of tourism, aims to progressively lower the shallows of the Chadenas plateau. This operation, made necessary by the successive alluvial deposits of the Durance (+1.5m to 2m since the floods of December1 and 2, 2023), will both improve navigation safety in this busy sector of the lake - notably by reducing the risk of grounding - and help limit the intensity of sand wind episodes on the right bank of the Durance.
It is also a gesture of solidarity on the part of the Syndicat Mixte, which is keen to offer professionals in this sector of the lake, who are rapidly penalized by the drawdown of the reservoir, the opportunity to extend their economic activities to the later parts of the season.
The reshaped Chadenas plateau will have a flat surface some 4 to 5m lower than when work began in 2012. In addition to complementing the resilience plan, this project fully contributes to the necessary adaptation of nautical spaces to the effects of climate change and the increasing scarcity of water resources, while encouraging the practice of low-carbon activities in the main sector of the lake where sport sailing is king.
Port de Chadenas: lowering the pleasure boat pontoon
SMADESEP is taking advantage of this latest extraction campaign to ask the companies on site to remove the material under the pleasure pontoon and reinforce the dyke by underpinning the riprap.
This operation will considerably extend the period of use of the pontoon by pleasure boaters. The available water level will be increased by around 2m. This securing operation completes the development of this harbour area, which began in 2010 with the creation of the navigation channel.
