Madon

The Madon is a French Rivière of Lorraine born in the hills of the Vôge. It runs out towards north, bathing the departments of the the Vosges and Meurthe-et-Moselle.

Hydrography

The source of Madon is located at the foot of the Ménamont , culminating point of the Monts Sickles. The first ford, on the Roman way of Langres to the Donon, gave its name to the Void d' Escles. Bainville-with-Willows, Mirecourt, Haroué and Pulligny is the principal crossed localities. After having curved through the plates of the Xaintois and the Vermois, the river joined the the Moselle with Bridge-Saint-Vincent, in the south-western suburbs of Nancy.

Ambacourt, two kilometers downstream from Mirecourt, water quality makes it possible to shelter a small colony of beaver S.

Affluents

Its principal affluents are:

the Illon
the Gitte
the Willow
the Valley of Arol
the Colonist
the Brénon

Hydrology

Madon is a rather abundant river, like all the rivers resulting from the southern part of the area Lorraine. Its flow was observed over one 44 years period (1964-2007), with Pulligny, locality of the Département of Meurthe-et-Moselle located at the entry of Nancy little before its confluence with the the Moselle. The catchment area of the river is there of 940 km ² (either more than 90% of its totality which makes 1 032 km ²).

The interannual medium flow or module of the river with Pulligny is of 10,6 m ³ a second.

Madon present of the seasonal fluctuations of flow very marked, as very often in the east of France, with high waters of winter carrying the average monthly flow on a level located between 16,2 and 21,3 m ³ a second, from December to March included (with an in January maximum), and low waters of summer, at the end of June at the beginning of October, with a fall of the monthly medium flow up to 2,53 m ³ in August. But the fluctuations are much more marked over short periods.

With the low water level, the VCN3 can fall until 0,83 m ³, in the event of period quinquennial dry, which is rather low, but perfectly normal on the Lorraine plate. Let us recall that the VCN3 is the past minimal quantity or minimal flow over three days consecutive.

As for the risings, they can be very important. The QIX 2 and QIX 5 or calculated flows of biennial and quinquennial rising are worth respectively 150 and 210 m ³. The QIX 10 or calculated flow of decennial rising is of 250 m ³ a second, the QIX 20 of 290 m ³ and the QIX 50 of 340 m ³ (see note).

The maximum instantaneous flow recorded at the station was of 273 m ³ a second on October 4th, 2006, while the value maximum day laborer was of 227 m ³ a second on December 30th, 2001. By comparing the first of these values on a QIX scale of the river, it arises that this rising of October 2006 was not even vicennial, and thus at all exceptional.

To have an idea of the importance of these flows, one can compare them with one affluents of the Seine in the south-east of Paris, the Loing, famous formerly for his overflows, and somewhat regularized since. The QIX 10 of Loing at the end of the course is worth only 190 m ³ (against 250 for Madon) and its QIX 50 is assembled to 270 m ³ (against 340 for Madon). Thus in spite of a basin more than four times less extended and a medium flow of about half, the volume of believed of Madon carries it largely on those of Loing.

Madon is an abundant river, supplied with such abundant precipitations they, in the area of the solid mass of Vôge and the Faucilles mounts in particular. The Lame of water past in its catchment area is of 356 millimetres annually, which is rather high, higher than the average overall of France, but lower than the average of the totality of the French basin of the the Moselle (445 millimetres with Hauconcourt, downstream from Metz). The specific Flow of the river (or Qsp) reached the figure of 11,2 liters a second and per square kilometer of basin.

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