The intense rains this spring and early summer are responsible for very high water flows on the Dordogne, just as the tourist season is due to start.
According to the prefecture, water levels and current speeds must increase from this Thursday, June 27, due to a significant release of water at a dam, which will carry the flow…
The intense rains this spring and early summer are responsible for very high water flows on the Dordogne, just as the tourist season is due to start.
According to the prefecture, water levels and current speeds must increase from this Thursday, June 27, due to a significant release of water at a dam, which will bring the average flow of the river to more than 260 m³ per second, between this Thursday and Wednesday July 3. As a reminder, when the river level exceeds 1.5 m at the Cénac bridge, navigation is automatically prohibited.
Already four rescue operations
The practice of leisure canoeing is therefore prohibited during this period for less experienced people, with a risk of falling into still cold waters, between Cazoulès (in the town of Pechs-de-l’Espérance) and Limeuil. Practice accompanied and supervised by personnel holding a qualification specific to the activity, or practice by experienced people licensed by the French Canoe-Kayak Federation, remains authorized.
This decision is a new blow for canoe rental companies, who had already suffered a ban on Ascension, one of the only good weather weekends in spring. “It’s a bad time,” confirms Gilles Ouardi, rental company in Vitrac, near Sarlat. We’ve already experienced this. About ten years ago, we had a closing period of around ten days in June. And four or five years ago, ten days in July. »
Furthermore, firefighters have already intervened four times since June 21 for people in distress after falling from a canoe. On Sunday June 23, a mother and her three daughters capsized, but none were injured. “I think it must have annoyed the prefecture a little,” said the rental company. A professional who, a few weeks ago, found his chalets underwater. “The parking lot was flooded,” he says. We had a meter of water in the chalets. We had electrical problems. We barely got out of there when the ban fell on us. »
He estimates his losses at around 30,000 euros, “between Internet reservations which must be reimbursed and people who had planned to come and who do not come”. Another problem is the staff, who have not yet been able to hire. “We take around ten more people for the season,” explains Gilles Ouardi. They usually hire in May. There, we couldn’t because of the weather. They come to see us regularly but we can’t promise them anything. As a result, some turned to other jobs, such as catering. And I understand them. »
