The dam of the Resistance and the tragedy of Nauzenac

The name of the dam is coming from a rock situated downhill from the dam. The lake of 1850 acres has a length of 16 miles. Two slopes of "jumping ski" or "flood overflows" can hurl the water of the river at a speed of 4000 m3 per second. As this force was not expected initially, the access to the factory was covered to protect the staff from the water. At the bottom of the dam, the erosion of the rocks by the water is digging a deep hole called "gour".

This dam is called "the dam of the Resistance" because it was used as a refuge for the maquis. It was built after the dam of Marèges, between 1940 and 1945. The war delayed the construction: Many workers had to leave because of the S.T.O. (Service du Travail Obligatoire). The men who were staying were some opponents to the S.T.O., Jews, Spanish republicans, Moroccans or Poles. Some of them were involved both in the maquis and in the construction of the dam. Some of these workers were delaying deliberately the works so that the dam couldn't be of benefit to the Germans.

The lake drowned three villages: La Nau, St Projet and Nauzenac, situated on the banks of the river. In Nauzenac, two habitants who didn't want to leave their house were drowned by an exceptional flood during the night of the 7th of December 1944.

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