Hautes-Alpes / Vaucluse. Rupture of the Serre-Ponçon dam: what would happen?
What if the Serre-Ponçon dam gave way? The scenario is highly improbable, but it is from this immense work, built on the bed of the Durance, which comes from the river which flows in the Vaucluse and which empties into the Rhône to the south of Avignon. In any case, prevention is better than cure.
In a press release published on December 14, the prefecture of Vaucluse recalls that “the PPI
relating to the potential rupture of the Serre-Ponçon dam (05) was drawn up in March 2019. Even if this event seems unlikely, the prefect of Vaucluse wished to supplement this plan with a document specifying the methods of evacuation of the entire population concerned. In the department, 31 municipalities are impacted by the risk of the dam breaking and the flooding wave that draws it, ie around 235,000 inhabitants. The state must therefore be ready and organized to implement an early evacuation. The duration of the event and its decline, its magnitude, the impact on the communication networks do not allow the population to remain in place. “
In accordance with the Internal Security Code (articles R. 741-26), the prefecture that a public consultation will be carried out with a view to specifying the observations of the population on the new PPI project for the Serre-Ponçon dam. A register will be opened for this purpose on the sites concerned.
The 31 municipalities concerned
The consultation will take place from December 27, 2021 to January 26, 2022 included at the usual opening hours to the public of the departments concerned.
Places of consultation: sub-prefecture of the district of Apt, sub-prefecture of the district of Carpentras, prefecture of Vaucluse (Avignon) at the Defense and Civil Protection Pole (PDPC).
As well as in the following municipalities: Althen-des-Paluds, Avignon, Beaumont-de-Pertuis, Bédarrides, Cadenet, Caumont-sur-Durance, Cavaillon, Châteauneuf-de-Gadagne, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Cheval Blanc, Entraigues- sur-la-Sorgue, Jonquerettes, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Lauris, Le Pontet, Le Thor, Mérindol, Mirabeau, Monteux, Morières-lès-Avignon, Pernes-les-Fontaines, Pertuis, Puget-sur- Durance, Puyvert, Saint-Saturnin-lès-Avignon, Sarrians, Sorgues, Les Taillades, Vedène, Velleron, Villelaure.
* The Special Intervention Plan (PPI) is an anticipation system put in place by the prefectures in coordination with the operator, the municipalities and all the services representing the State concerned, to deal with technological risks , what are the dams. It makes it possible to identify sensitive sites and vulnerable populations, to alert, to inform and to put in place adequate measures to protect the population.