VIDEO. “I saw that the water was back”: he films the dry Gardon which is filling up from the ground in Sainte-Anastasie in the Gard

The phenomenon is natural but always impressive: when the completely dried up river fills up again.

Jérôme Bouron, a resident of Sainte-Anastasie, in the Gardon gorges, is a river lover. But in the summer here, like the wadis of Africa, the Gardon disappears and becomes underground.

“In general it disappears after the Dions bridge and reappears shortly before Poulx, at the threshold of the Baume. This year, there was water until the end of July due to the spring rains, but it really depends on the rainfall", explains Jérôme Bouron.

"This is the first time I have witnessed this filling live"

The same phenomenon occurs in the fall, the Gardon finds water again at varying dates depending on the weather. This time, with the heavy accumulations that fell on the Cévennes (192 mm at La Grand-Combe, 170 mm at Saint-Jean-du-Gard), the gardonnade took place.

"I went in the morning towards La Calmette on the Dions bridge and I saw that the water was back. Between Dions and the Pont Saint Nicolas, there are about 10 km of rivers, with the meanders. At noon, I posted myself on the Pont Saint-Nicolas and waited two hours! I have lived here for 15 years and this is the first time I have witnessed this filling in person.