The Béal Neuf: from mountain stream to canal

D’avril à juillet, un chant d’oiseau bien peu mélodieux, un trille court et sonore, retentit dans la forêt. C’est celui du pouillot de Bonelli, revenu de migration. C’est un oiseau au plumage assez terne, vert olive avec le ventre blanc. Bien pratique pour se dissimuler dans les branches mais beaucoup moins pour se faire remarquer par une femelle. Une seule solution : chanter fort ! 

The ASA (authorised water user association) of Béal Neuf is the owner of the canal. The association manages, maintains and develops the Béal Neuf canal which carries water to the entire network of irrigation canals.

The path runs through a small aspen wood. This tree with a smooth, greenish trunk and rounded, crenelated leaves takes on magnificent autumn colours. The stem, or petiole, of aspen leaves is flat and twisted, so it can be caught by the slightest breeze making the foliage «quake» hence its common name, the quaking aspen. It grows in places where the soil is quite damp.

Since the Middle Ages, canals have been dug to carry water to the crops. The water is diverted by the canals: through the action of gravity, the water flows down the mountain sides. Use of the water is regulated and for any draw-off, the volume is measured.

Despite its name, the L'Eychauda mountain stream does not flow from the Lac de l'Eychauda, lying at an altitude of 2,514 metres, but is fed by waters from the Dôme de Montier (3,400 m). The mountain stream is also thought to be fed by several underground water courses.