The site

Paladru Lake is of glacial origin. It was dug, probably twice, at times when the alpine glaciers stretched to Lyon.

The site of Lake Paladru is typically pre-alpine: wooded hills, ancient moraines, surround the lake and culminate at 800 meters above sea level. Fields and pastures alternate with forests dominated by chestnut, oak and beech. Valleys, or "combes", descends from the ridges to the lake and brings water from the watershed. In the background, valleys and valleys open glimpses on the Mont du Chat, in Savoie, on the Dauphine summits of Chartreuse and Vercors but also on the Belledone massif and, on a clear day, on that of Mont Blanc.

Lake Paladru is located at an altitude of 492.40 meters NGF. It extends over the municipalities of Paladru, Montferrat. Bilieu. Charavines and The Pine.

Its length is 5300m, its average width is about 800 meters (1 km at the widest) and the depth is on average 25m and 36m maximum. Its area is 392 hectares, which makes it the fifth natural lake in France after Lake Geneva, Lake Bourget, Lake Annecy and Lake Aiguebelette.

It is fed mainly by precipitation (rain - snow).

Its outlet to Charavines is the river Fure which flows into the Isere.

A system of valves makes it possible to regulate the flow of water at the exit of the lake according to the needs of the factories established on the course of the Fure. In the second half of the 19th century, this river fed paper mills, steel mills, cutlery, weaving, etc.

The total capacity of the lake is 97 million m3. The total renewal time of the lake water is estimated at 3.6 years.

The lake level varies. The amplitude of the variations can reach 2.50 m, which is not without consequences on the flora, the fauna and the riparian installations.