Falleron (river)

The Falleron is a French coastal river forming the boundary between the departments of Vendée and Loire-Atlantique and flowing into the Bay of Biscay and Atlantic Ocean via the Bay of Bourgneuf.

Falleron
Mouth of the Falleron at the port of Collet
Native nameFalleron (French)
Location
CountryFrance
DepartmentsLoire-Atlantique, Vendée
Physical characteristics
Source 
  locationGrand'Landes
  coordinates46°51′18″N 01°39′04″W
  elevation60 m (200 ft)
Mouth 
  location
Bay of Bourgneuf at Port du Collet
  coordinates
47°01′45″N 1°59′0″W
Length52 km (32 mi)[1]
Basin size419 km2 (162 sq mi)[2]

Geography

The Falleron is 52 km long,[1] from its source at an altitude of 60 metres (200 ft), in the town of Grand'Landes in the Vendée department flowing west to its mouth in the Bay of Bourgneuf at the Port du Collet.[2][3]

Hydrography

The main tributaries of the Falleron upstream of Machecoul, from upstream to downstream are la Gautrelière (5 km (3.1 mi)),[4] whose confluence on the right bank lies to the east of the eponymous town of Falleron and which marks the start of the boundary between Loire-Atlantique on the right bank and Vendée on the left. To the west of Falleron town le Marchais (7 km (4.3 mi)) joins on the left bank.[5] At Saint-Etienne-de-Mer-Morte the ruisseau de la Blanchardière (9 km (5.6 mi) joins on the left bank and defines a further section of the departmental boundary.[6]

At Machecoul, the 3.3 kilometres (2.1 mi) long Canal d’Amenée ("Supply canal") or Canal d'Irrigation ("Irrigation canal"), constructed before the end of the 18th century,[7] links the right bank of the Falleron with the left bank of the Tenu and, via series of pumps and sluices, helps maintain the water levels in the Marais Breton during dry periods. The gradient of the Tenu is so slight that fresh water can be diverted from the Loire at high tide this far upstream. A pumping station at La Pommeraie, built in 1962, raises water the remaining 3 metres (9.8 ft) from the Tenu to the Falleron.[8][9][10] The canal increasingly serves to drain Machecoul during periods of intense rainfall.[11]

Downstream of Machecoul the Falleron opens into the marshes and polders of the Marais Breton, and divides and connects with a complex network of freshwater and semi-tidal creeks and canals. On the right bank l'étier de la Gravelle (7 km (4.3 mi)) and l'étier de la salle (13 km (8.1 mi)) form the core of a section to the north.[12][13] The main channel of the Falleron divides, the southern branch (l'étier du Chiron Boileau) being joined to l'étier de la Taillé Gouine.[14] The channels reunite at Port de la Roche and are re-joined by the étier de la Salle on the right bank. Further downstream the Dain canal joins on the left bank and flows 15 km (9.3 mi) south-west around the former isle and town of Bouin reaching the Bay of Bourgneuf at L'Epoids.[3][15] The Falleron itself flows northwest from the confluence of the Dain canal, joined on the right bank by l’étier de fresne and l’étier de la charreau blanche which, with its tributary, l’étier du gros baron, drain the areas around Bourgneuf-en-Retz and Les Moutiers-en-Retz.[16][17][18] The Falleron flows into the Bay of Bourgneuf at the Port du Collet.[1]

Communes crossed

The Falleron crosses or constitutes the limit of the following municipalities:

See also

Media related to Falleron (river) at Wikimedia Commons


Notes and references

  1. Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - Le Falleron (N01-0300)". Retrieved 23 May 2014. (in French.)
  2. "Présentation géographique de l'hydraulique du Sud de la Loire" [Geographical presentation of hydraulics in the South of the Loire] (in French). Syndicat d’Aménagement Hydraulique du Sud Loire. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  3. Joanne, Paul (1894). Dictionnaire géographique et administratif de la France et de ses colonies [Geographic and administrative dictionary of France and its colonies] (in French). Vol. 3 E–K. Paris: Hachette. p. 1445.
  4. Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - la Gautrelière (N0114100)". Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  5. Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - le Marchais (N0115000)". Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  6. Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - ruisseau de la Blanchardière (N0116000)". Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  7. "Remonter le temps". Géoportail (in French). IGN. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  8. Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - Canal d'Irrigation (---11002)". Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  9. Holman, Clotilde (2007), La prise en compte du patrimoine hydraulique et de son environnement dans le cadre de l'élaboration du schéma de cohérence territoriale (S.C.O.T.) du Pays de Retz [Taking the hydraulic heritage and its environment into account as part of the development of the scheme of territorial coherence (S.C.O.T.) of the Pays de Retz] (PDF) (thesis) (in French), University of Nantes
  10. "Présentation géographique de l'hydraulique du Sud de la Loire" [Geographical presentation of the hydraulics of the south of the Loire] (in French). SAHSL. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  11. "Machecoul-Saint-Même. « Le canal d'amenée a un rôle nouveau : protéger Machecoul »" [Machecoul-Saint-Even. “The supply channel has a new role: to protect Machecoul”]. Ouest France (in French). 15 October 2021.
  12. Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - étier de la Gravelle (N0125002)". Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  13. Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - étier de la Salle (N0125000)". Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  14. Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - étier de la Taillé Gouine (N0125602)". Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  15. Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - canal le Dain (N0135002)". Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  16. Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - étier de la charreau blanche (N0127002)". Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  17. Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - étier du gros baron (N0126702)". Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  18. Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - étier du gros baron (N0127102)". Retrieved 1 July 2022.
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