Eyre (river)

The Eyre is a coastal river that flows through the Landes of Gascony, in Aquitaine, southwest France.

This article is about the river in France. For the river in Australia, see Eyre River (Western Australia). For the river in New Zealand, see Eyre River, New Zealand.
Eyre
Native nameL'Eyre (f)  (French)
Location
CountryFrance
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationSabres, Landes
 • elevation82 m (269 ft)
Mouth 
 • location
Arcachon Bay
 • coordinates
44°39′52″N 1°1′23″W
Length116 km (72 mi)
Basin size1,700 km2 (660 sq mi)
Discharge 
 • average18.8 m3/s (660 cu ft/s)
Official nameBassin d'Arcachon - Secteur du delta de l'Eyre
Designated27 October 2011
Reference no.1996[1]

The river is generally presented as the confluence of:

  • the Grande Leyre (Large Leyre), its principal course, upstream from Moustey
  • the Petite Leyre (Small Leyre), its main tributary

The combined watercourse Eyre-Grande Lyre is 115.9 km (72.0 mi) long.[2]

Name

Eyre is an Aquitanian hydronym. It can be found in such names as Eyres-Moncube, Landes, or the craste de l'Eyron (Eyron ditch) in Lacanau, Gironde. Note that Leyre is a variant of the name Eyre, affected by an agglutination of the Romance article.

Geography
The Eyre in Mios

The basin of the Eyre in included in the parc régional des Landes de Gascogne (National Park of the Moors of Gascony).

The river takes form in the Plantiet Marsh, in Grande Lande near Sabres, Landes.

It flows north into the Bassin d'Arcachon, a large bay on the Atlantic coast, in the Pays de Buch, Gironde. Its delta of 30 square kilometres (12 sq mi) contains the Le Teich ornithological park.

The Eyre flows through a preserved environment. Its banks are bordered by a broad-leaved forest. Branches join over the river, forming a gallery forest, that contrasts with the Landes forest, planted with maritime pines.

Départements and towns

The Eyre flows through the following départements and towns:

Tributaries

The main tributary of the Eyre is the Petite-Leyre. It rises between Luxey and Retjons, in Landes, and flows northwest to join the Grande Leyre downstream from Pissos.

  • (R) Petite Leyre

N.B. : (R) = right tributary; (L) = left tributary

Historical sidenote

During the establishment of the French départements in 1790, the creation of a large département corresponding to the natural region of the Landes of Gascony – that is to say, today's Landes forest (then still unplanted) – was suggested. The name of this département would have been the Eyre.

Activities

References
  1. "Bassin d'Arcachon - Secteur du delta de la Leyre". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  2. Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - La Grande Leyre (S2--0250)".
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