Dolore


The Dolore is a French river in the Auvergne region. It originates in the monts du Livradois and joins la Dore, left bank; hence it is a sub-affluent of la Loire. It is long.

Geography

La Dolore originates at Fournols, in the Livradois range.
It flows southward until Saint-Bonnet-le-Chastel. It then turns east, before joining la Dore, left bank, downstream of Arlanc.
The entire river valley is part of the Livradois-Forez Regional Natural Park.

Communes

Heading downstream, the river fares through :
Levels were recorded from 1965 to 2008 at Mayres, with a discharge of, from its confluence with la Dore.
The river has well-marked seasonal debital variations. High waters are in winter and spring especially, with average monthly scores of, from December to May. The rate drops considerably in June to, and the rate remains low through September, when it declines to. These monthly scores can also however vary yearly or over short periods.
Àt low water, the rate can drop to, equivalent to, after a five-year dry period.
Given the narrowness of the basin, floods can be quite important, which can reach maximal debits of 14, 21, 26, 31 and for periods of 2, 5, 10, 20 or 50 years respectively. The MID recorded at Mayres on August 1, 1980, was of and rose to a daily total of on March 18, 1988.
The basin has a yearly precipitation of, which is above the national average of and even higher compared to the Loire at about. The average debit hence reached 16.8 L/s/km².

Ecology

Lush in trout, a fair part of the river is included in the Natura 2000 programme, a small colony of Freshwater pearl mussel still present.
Though it suffers little from industrial, domestic or agricultural pollution, the resinous reforestation of its banks has led to acidification of its waters and spawn clogging.