Narais

The Narais is a French Rivière which runs in the department of the the Sarthe (72). It is an affluent of the Huisne out of left bank, therefore a tributary of a tributary of the the Loire by Huisne, the Sarthe and the Maine.

Geography

Narais takes its source on the territory of Saint-March-in Outillé, with five kilometers in the west of the Large-Lucé , in the department of the the Sarthe. It is born within the zone from wood and forests from the south-eastern area from the Mans. It directs from the start towards north, direction which it roughly speaking maintains throughout its course. It joined the Huisne with Saint-March-the-Brière, ten kilometers in the east (upstream) of the city of the Mans, and thus of the confluence of Huisne and the Sarthe.

Common crossings

Narais crosses successively the communes of Saint-March-in Outillé, Parigné-l' Évêque, Ardenay-on-Mérize and Saint-March-the-Brière, all located in the department of the the Sarthe.

Hydrology

Narais is a very regular river. Its flow was observed during one 28 years period (1980-2007), with Saint-March-the-Brière, locality of the department of the the Sarthe located at the level of its confluence with the Huisne. Surface thus studied is of 167 km ², that is to say the totality of the catchment area of the river.

The interannual medium flow or module of the river at Saint-March-the-Brière is of 0,93 m ³ a second.

Narais presents seasonal fluctuations of flow very little marked, contrary to many river to the basin to the Loire. The high waters are held in winter and are characterized by average monthly flows going from 0,97 to 1,27 m ³ a second, from December to April included (with a maximum very light in January). From April, the flow decreases gently to the low waters of summer which take place from July to September, involving a fall of the average monthly flow to the floor of 0,566 m ³ in August. But these monthly averages are only averages and hide more marked fluctuations over short periods or according to the years.

With the low water levels, the VCN3 can fall until 0,255 m ³ a second, which is absolutely not severe and remains almost comfortable (see note).

As for the risings, they are not very important, even taking into account the smallness of the catchment area. The QIX 2 and QIX 5 are worth respectively 4,1 and 6,1 m ³ a second. The QIX 10 or calculated flow of decennial rising is of 7,4 m ³ a second, the QIX 20 of 8,6 m ³, while the QIX 50 is assembled to 10 m ³ a second (see note).

The maximum instantaneous flow recorded at Saint-March-the-Brière was of 10,4 m ³ a second on May 3rd, 2001, while the value maximum day laborer was of 8,12 m ³ a second on January 14th, 2004. If one compares the first of these values on a QIX scale of the river, one notes that this rising was of order cinquantennal, and thus very exceptional.

Narais is a river relatively not very abundant. The Lame of water past in its catchment area is of 176 millimetres annually, which is definitely lower than the overall average of France, like with the average of the basin of the the Loire (more or less 245 millimetres), of the Huisne (219 mm) and of the the Sarthe (201 millimetres). It is however largely higher than the basin of the Loir near (129 mm). The specific Flow (or Qsp) reached the rather poor figure of 5,6 liters a second and per square kilometer of basin.

Random links: