As part of the resilience plan, SMADESEP is planning to develop certain areas along the lake's shores to enhance the biodiversity of Serre-Ponçon, as well as its history and cultural heritage, for local residents and visitors alike.
In 2026, SMADESEP has voted an ambitious investment budget to develop 3 sites, in the communes of Le Lauzet-Ubaye, Savines-le-Lac and Embrun.
These developments have received financial support from the French government and the Southern Region.
What do these 3 projects involve?
Bird Island Operational construction combining municipal intentions, uses and technical constraints.
In the commune of Savines-le-Lac, the aim is to create a tourist and educational interpretation area to help visitors better understand and observe the lake's landscape and birdlife. Located near the bridge spanning the reservoir, at its confluence with the Réallon torrent, this area will offer a gentle walkway and footbridge to an observation post facing the village of Savines-le-Lac, before circling the peninsula and allowing visitors to discover the dynamic environments produced by the sedimentary bed load of a mountain torrent. Interpretation panels will complete the layout to raise visitors' awareness of this fragile area, which changes with the seasons and is home to a variety of species (birds, chiropterans, dragonflies, etc.).
Estimated project cost: €276,360 inc
Ubaye sunken village Operational construction combining municipal intentions, uses and technical constraints.
Lauzet-Ubaye: The ancient village of Ubaye, which was swallowed up when the dam was built, will finally be the focus of an ambitious project in the commune of Lauzet-Ubaye. The first stage will involve developing the area around the chapel, by organizing and securing parking, installing picnic tables, paths adapted for people with reduced mobility and interpretation panels recounting the history of this destroyed village. A second phase of work, which has already been financed, will virtually recreate the village of Ubaye using augmented reality and organize a walking tour (or a boat tour in summer) to better appreciate the importance of this vanished past: the interpretation trail should be marked out by immersible artistic works before culminating in a more monumental work, which, rising above the water, should be located at the level of the bell tower of the old church, undoubtedly feeding into the nearby VIA PAC (route de l'art contemporain).
Estimated project cost: €449,940 inc
Old Durance riverbed Operational construction combining municipal intentions, uses and technical constraints.
Embrun: The former bed of the Durance, located right up against the Embrun lake, will be developed as an edutainment zone, with leisure areas and light equipment to highlight the site's biodiversity and fragility: wooden steps/tribune from the existing dyke path, gentle paths in the meadow to create new walking opportunities, wooden decking to create a relaxation area in the meadow, birdwatching station in the submersible zone, benches offering views towards the lake, should significantly enhance this "ecotourism" area between the Embrun water body and the Serre-Ponçon lake.
Estimated project cost: €245,520 inc
