Basse

The Basse (La Basse) is a river in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in the Occitanie region of southern France. It is a right-bank tributary of the Têt, which it joins in Perpignan.

With a length of 16 km (9.9 mi), the Basse rises east of the small hill of Serrat del Pou (234 m (768 ft)) and about 200 metres north of Sainte-Colombe-de-la-Commanderie, southwest of Thuir. Until the end of the 17th century, the Basse joined the Têt near Canet. Its course was then shortened by the construction of a canal by the king's engineers. At the entrance to Perpignan the river has been channelled (partly lined with concrete) to limit flooding. It flows past the Lycée François-Arago and the Castillet (a former fortified gate of Perpignan), and meets the Têt downstream of the Joffre bridge at an altitude of about 26 m (85 ft). The Basse frequently experiences floods during heavy rain; its discharge can become significant even within Perpignan, for example opposite the Castillet.

Within the Pyrénées-Orientales department, the Basse crosses six communes and several cantons:

From upstream to downstream: Sainte-Colombe-de-la-Commanderie, Thuir (source area), Ponteilla, Le Soler, Toulouges, Perpignan (confluence). In cantonal terms, the Basse rises in the canton of Thuir and then crosses the cantons of Millas, Toulouges, Perpignan-8, Perpignan-6, before joining the Têt in the Perpignan-2, all within the Arrondissement of Perpignan.

The river's drainage basin covers about 70 km2 (27 sq mi), whereas the Têt basin is about 1,417 km2 (547 sq mi) (or 1,369 km2 (529 sq mi) according to SANDRE), meaning the Basse represents under 5% of the total Têt basin.

The managing authority is the SMBVT (Syndicat Mixte du Bassin Versant de la Têt), created in 2008.

Canal data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).