The village of Pralognan in Savoie wants to avoid a destiny at La Blaten, a commune in Switzerland evacuated and almost striking from the map by the collapse of the Birch glacier last May, under the warming of climate warming.
The scenario is slightly different, but the causes are identical: under the effect of the melting of the glacier overlooking the town to the 700 inhabitants, an altitude lake began to be created in 2020 and has continued to grow and fill.
3,000 meters above sea level
With the long -term certainty that it suddenly ends up pouring into the town its tens of thousands of cubic meters of water accumulated in a destructive torrent, once the ice bar which keeps it perforated.
Heavy work at almost 3,000 meters above sea level have therefore been undertaken to prevent the lake preventively, notably reports here Savoie (ex France Bleu). To do this, shovels transported to the helicopter lake will dig a channel to evacuate the water in a controlled manner. In the amount of 400,000 euros, they must last all summer.
These are not the first works undertaken in France to drain ice lakes. Identical maneuvers have already taken place Rochemelon in Maurienne in 2005, but also in Chamonix in 2023, recalls public radio.
