The Bouillouses lake and dam
Close to natural areas of Cerdanya and Capcir in the Carlit mountain massif, the Bouillouses lake and its surroundings are classified as a natural site since 1977. The county council (Conseil Général), which manages the site since 1998, has designed in 1999 a global management project of the Bouillouses attendance to lead to a touristic exploitation which preserves the site natural character.The water dam (alt. 2,017 m) has become the starting location of hikers to peaks Carlit and Pérics, the Coumette d'Espagne, the Lanoux, the Rock of Aude... This artificial water tank is 2,500 m long for a surface of 150 ha was erected at the beginning of the XXth century for regulating the flow of the Têt river and producing electricity. Its capacity was 13,000,000 m3.
In 1846, a first project is submitted to the county council but was not approved because of a disagreement between watering unions. The work took place between 1903 and 1909 when the turbines of La Cassagne power plant provides the necessary current to the first trains between Villefranche de Conflent and Mont-Louis. In 1946, the SNCF raises the dam to obtain a capacity of 17,000,000 m3.
A mountain chalet-refuge built in 1910 for dam workers, managed today by the french Alps Club, and an hotel eredcted in 1965 are available on the site.
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