‘We are on the frontline’: the ambitious plan to save an Alpine village from a climate catastrophe
A huge lake formed by a melting glacier above Pralognan-la-Vanoise could inundate the village - but a project is under way to stop it
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Avalanches, rockfalls, mudslides, sudden crevices and torrents of water are within the living memory of most villagers, and every day the climate emergency throws up new dangers.
Less than a year ago, an enormous lake formed by a melting glacier was discovered high above Pralognan that experts feared could inundate the village with more than 60,000 cubic metres of icy water.
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Today, an engineering operation is under way to prevent such a catastrophic scenario in Pralognan. Three workers have been helicoptered to the Grand Marchet glacier at an altitude of 2,900 metres to gouge a narrow, 6-metre deep, 100-metre long "overflow channel" in the ice. This will channel water from the lake into the cascades that feed streams of crystalline blue water flowing through Pralognan.
"The aim is to help the water find its way down the mountain gradually and avoid a rapid emptying of the lake," said David Binet, the director of the mountain land restoration service (RTM) for the northern Alps, part of the national forestry commission tasked with identifying and preventing natural hazards.
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The glacier blocks the lake from spilling down the mountain but it is shrinking at a rate of 2 to 3 metres a year. There is also the risk that that the warmer waters of the lake could form a channel gush from underneath.
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