en Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat

Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat
Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat
	From the barrage;
	Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat
Location	Aveyron
Coordinates	44°6′25″N 2°41′40″E / 44.10694°N 2.69444°E
Type	reservoir
Primary outflows	L'Alrance
Basin countries	France
Surface area	1.92 km2 (0.74 sq mi)
Max. depth	17 m (56 ft)
Surface elevation	727 m (2,385 ft)

Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat (French pronunciation: [lak də vilfʁɑ̃ʃ də pana]) is a lake in Aveyron, France. At an elevation of 727 m, its surface area is 1.92 km².

It lies in the communes of Villefranche-de-Panat and Alrance.

Description

The Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat is part of an electricity generating system where waters falling on the granite plateau of Lévézou that had drained unhindered into the Viaur and the Tarn river were captured and used by the power stations at Alrance and Le Pouget.

Diagram of the linked rivers, reservoirs, dams, pipelines, pumping stations and power stations.

Waters from the Vioulou fell, and waters from the Vaur were pumped into the reservoir at the Lac de Paraloup whence they passed through a 10.8 km steel lined tunnel to the Alrance power station and into the lake. Waters from three streams that fell directly into the Tarn at Le Truel, are pumped directly into the lake. From this lake tunnels were dug to the Lac de Saint-Amans where the waters drop 461m vertically to the power station at Le Pouget on the Tarn.