Ардешь өзені: Францияның табиғаты мен су тасқындары

The Ardèche (aʁdɛʃ; ) is a long river in south central France, a right bank tributary of the River Rhône. Its source is in the Massif Central, near the village of Astet. It flows into the Rhône near Pont Saint Esprit, north west of Orange. The river gives its name to the French department of Ardèche. The valley of the Ardèche is very scenic, in particular a section known as the Ardèche Gorges. The walls of the river here are limestone cliffs up to high. A kayak and camping trip down the gorge is not technically difficult and is very popular in the summer. The most famous feature is a natural stone arch spanning the river known as the Pont d'Arc (arch bridge).

The source of the river lies at above sea level in the Vivarais, near the Col de la Chavade, in the forest of Mazan in the commune of Astet. After the towns of Aubenas and Ruoms, it collects the Chassezac and the Beaume and plunges into its famous gorge below Vallon Pont d'Arc. It flows into the Rhône at Pont Saint Esprit.

The river has an average discharge of but experiences severe floods, called "coups de l'Ardèche" (Blows of the Ardèche), in spring and autumn and periods of very low water in summer. During flood events in 1827, 1890, and 1924, it reached and the water level rose to a record in the gorge. Despite the Ardèche's short length, the flow of the river at is relatively high—higher than the Gardon at , the Cèze (22 m3/s), the Hérault (44 m3/s), or the Agout (55 m3/s)—major rivers south of the Massif Central but much longer.

The inter annual average flow of the Ardèche was observed and calculated over a period of 26 years at Saint Martin d'Ardèche. It amounted to for a surface basin of —i. e. the vast majority of its watershed of The river has seasonal fluctuations: a typical flow around the Cevennes, with high water in autumn and winter being double the normal, brings the average monthly flow at the first peak of in October then, after falling to in December, a new peak occurs from in January–March (with a maximum in January). A rapid decline in flow rate follows ending in a dry period in July–August resulting in a decrease of the average monthly rate to the level of in July. (See bar chart below.) The VCN3 (minimum flow) can drop to in a dry year. Floods can be extremely important (usually following storms in the Cevennes). The Qix 2 and Qix 5 are respectively which is high. QIX 10 is while QIX 20 and QIX 50 respectively rise to
The maximum instantaneous flow recorded in Saint Martin d'Ardèche has been (two thirds of the average flow of the Danube), while the maximum recorded daily rate was
The runoff curve number flowing into the catchment of the river is annually, which is very high. The specific flow (Qs) reaches 28.3 litres per second per square kilometre of the catchment.

WaterwayLocationFlows in m per secondSidemax(m)Max. instantMax. journ. RunoffCurve(mm)Area(km)ModuleVCN3(low water)QIX 2QIX 5QIX 10 QIX 20 QIX 50 ArdècheMeyras3.520.090150230280330 4.09360157102ArdèchePont de Labeaume16.300.5504005907108309807.001660531280ArdècheVogüé26.001.10073011001400160019007.8122008901294636 Ligne Labeaume2.07 0.002170300390480 4.14622162586112BeaumeSaint Alban Auriolles 7.56 0.230270430540640 5.73683348994241ChassezacChambonas15.500.820550900110013001600 1800878965507 from BorneSaint Laurent les Bains 2.690.075110180230270330 694174135763 from AltierAltier3.44 0.1301202102703304003.129601901056103ArdècheSaint Martin d'Ardèche64.302.700180026003100360043008.1245002510908

The prefecture of Ardèche has provided a voice server since June 2005 whose objective is to regularly disseminate information messages to allow monitoring of any significant event that might trigger a civil security crisis or standby alert. Precise information on the evolution of any flood is provided.

The Ardèche receives water from the Loire river via the "La Palisse" flood barrier and the Lake d'Issarlès. Effectively, the water is collected to feed the EDF hydroelectric plant at Montpezat sous Bauzon and is subsequently piped into the Fontaulière river, a tributary of the Ardèche, near the town of Aubenas.

Several ancient inscriptions about a college of nautes (Boatmen) in associated rivers have been discovered in the Gard. It is possible that the two rivers concerned are the Ardèche and the Ouvèze. The identification of these two rivers is still pending. However, if it does involve the Ardèche river, the spellings Hentica (from 950), then Ardesca (in the Charta Vetus) have been attested.

The Gorges de l'Ardèche The Gorges de l'Ardèche (Ardèche Gorge) is located between the villages of Vallon Pont d'Arc and Saint Martin d'Ardèche. The road along the north rim of the gorge (the Corniche) has views into the gorge and over the river. Pont d'Arc (arched bridge) A natural stone bridge across the river near the town of Vallon Pont d'Arc forms the natural to the Gorges de l'Ardèche. Chauvet Cave This limestone cave, which is named after its discoverer, is in the Gorges de l'Ardèche. It contains early Stone Age cave paintings of great variety and expressiveness. Since the cave is not open to the public, photographs of cave paintings are displayed in an exhibition in Vallon Pont d'Arc.