Gave de Pau

The Gave de Pau is a river of south-western France. It is a left tributary of the Adour river.

Gave de Pau
Length	181.3 km (112.7 mi)

It takes its name from the city Pau, through which it flows. The word gave is a name given to rivers on the mountains in regions of the western Pyrenees; so, Gave de Pau means "the river of Pau" or "the river that flows through Pau". Many other rivers in the region have the word gave as part of their names.

Geography

The Gave de Pau has a length of about 190.7 km (118.5 mi), including the Gave de Gavarnie, and a drainage basin with an area of approximately 2,575 km² (994 sq mi).

Its average yearly discharge (volume of water which passes through a section of the river per unit of time) is 81.20 m³/s (2,868 cu ft/s) at Bérenx, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department.

Average monthly discharge (m³/s) at Bérenx

Course

The Gave de Pau starts in the Cirque de Gavarnie, in the Parc national des Pyrénées ("Pyrénées National Park"), in the commune of Gavarnie, Hautes-Pyrénées department, at an altitude of about 2,600 m (8,530 ft). The upper part of the river is known as Gave de Gavarnie; the name Gave de Pau is given to the river after the Gave de Gavarnie joins the Bastan river at Luz-Saint-Sauveur.

The Gave de Pau receives its main tributary, the Gave d'Oloron, in Peyrehorade and, from there, it is named as Gaves Réunis (United Gaves). Finally, it flows, as a left tributary, into the river Adour in the Landes department, at about 3 m (10 ft) of altitude.

The Gave de Pau flows through 90 communes. It passes through the following regions, departments and communes:

• Occitanie region
  • Hautes-Pyrénées: Gavarnie, Luz-Saint-Sauveur, Pierrefitte-Nestalas, Argelès-Gazost, Lourdes, Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre
• Nouvelle-Aquitaine region
  • Pyrénées-Atlantiques: Lestelle-Bétharram, Coarraze, Nay, Pau, Artix, Orthez
  • Landes: Labatut

Main tributaries

The tributaries of Gave de Pau with a length greater than 29 km (18.0 mi) are:

• Left tributaries
  • Ouzom - 33.2 km;
  • Baïse - 40.6 km;
  • Gave d'Azun - 29.1 km;
  • Laâ - 29.5 km;
• Right tributaries
  • Ousse - 42.4 km;
  • Ousse des Bois - 32.3 km;
  • Gave d'Oloron - 148.2 km;

Gallery

• 

  Gave de Pau near Nay, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

• 

  Gave de Pau at Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrénées

• 

  Gave de Gavarnie, several kilometres from the Cirque de Gavarnie

• 

  Orthez, bridge over the Gave de Pau

Gave De Pau Media

• 

  Maintenance work on the bed of the river

Related pages

• List of rivers of France

Other websites

• Banque Hydro - Station Q5501010 - Le Gave de Pau à Berenx Archived 2015-02-19 at the Wayback Machine (in French)