Lac de Castillon, Artificial lake in Castellane, France
Lac de Castillon is a reservoir formed by the Castillon dam across the Verdon, upstream of Castellane in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. It runs nearly ten kilometres up the valley to the edge of Saint-André-les-Alpes, at an elevation of 880 m, with a surface of 5 km². The dam holds 150,000,000 m³ of water.
The construction of the Castillon Dam in 1948 submerged the original village below the water, which then merged administratively with neighboring Castellane. This project was part of wider regional infrastructure development for water management and power generation.
The lake takes its name from the village of Castillon, submerged when the dam was filled in 1948; that commune was then merged with Castellane. The reservoir stretches about ten kilometres up the Verdon valley to the edge of Saint-André-les-Alpes, and its banks touch the communes of Castellane, Demandolx, Saint-Julien-du-Verdon and Angles.
Water conditions are best for activity from spring through autumn when weather is more stable and equipment rental is available. The shoreline can be accessed from several nearby villages, though some areas offer better facilities and parking than others.
Southwest of Saint-Julien-du-Verdon, the lake hosts a military testing facility run by the Direction générale de l'armement (DGA) of the Ministry of Armed Forces. The site occupies part of the water and its banks, so some stretches are off-limits to boaters and swimmers.
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