The River Dropt

The Dropt springs up at the bottom of a 239 metres high hill, in the massif situated between the great valleys of the Lot and of the Dordogne. It flows from east to west from Capdrot (the head of the Drot : “lou cap del Drot” in langue d’oc or “caput Drotii” in Latin) to Caudrot (the tail of the Drot : “la couau del Drot” in langue d’oc or “cauda Drotii” in Latin).

To its natural Caudrot mouth, two Dropt – Garonne links are added : the Escourret branch of Gironde-sur-Dropt (open in 1768 by a sudden rising of the Dropt) and the Casseuil canal with a lock-gate, open during the XIXth century for the navigation needs of the Dropt, up-stream of the last dam before the Garonne.

The very slight slope between its spring and its mouth (150 metres difference in level for 125 km) makes the Dropt a peaceful, winding, open-country river, entirely bordered with trees. From the spring to the junction with the Garonne is a series of dams with their ancient mills, including smaller mills along the affluents.

For agricultural needs (irrigation), reservoir lakes – the Brayssou lake (60ha) at Parranquet, the Ganne Lake (40ha) at Tourliac, the Nette lake (27 ha covered, 1 200 000 m3) at Cavarc, the Graoussettes lake (36 ha) along the Dourdenne at Saint-Colomb-de-Lauzun, the Escourroux lake (112 ha) near Eymet – sustain the water level (much diminished by the harnessing of the Brame spring, near Monpazier, used for water conveyance) and reduce rises in water levels.

In the XIXth century, the Dropt made a navigable waterway down-stream from Eymet, used for transporting goods. At the time when the great evolution of transport means occurred, the Dropt carried ships from Eymet to its mouth. This activity has completely disappeared. The Eymet “harbour” is well preserved, “Quai de la navigation”.