Contested capture project 1899 (≈ 1899)
Mobilization of the inhabitants against the destruction of the cascade.
21 avril 1906
Beauquier law
Beauquier law 21 avril 1906 (≈ 1906)
First French law to protect picturesque sites.
2 mai 1912
Site classification
Site classification 2 mai 1912 (≈ 1912)
Official protection of the Lison source.
février 1999
Ten-year Crue
Ten-year Crue février 1999 (≈ 1999)
Record flow of 85.4 m3/s recorded.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Key figures
Charles Beauquier - Deputy of the Doubs
Porter of the 1906 law to protect the source.
Gustave Courbet - Realistic painter
The source was immortalized in 1864 (*The Source of Lison*).
Origin and history
The source of Lison, located in Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne in the Doubs department, is a major exemergence from the limestones of the middle Jurassique. Powered by a vast karst network (114 km2) including abyss and cracks, it drains the waters of Château-Renaud Creek, whose underground course is visible at Creux Billard, 200 metres upstream. Its average inter-annual flow of 5.35 m3/s makes it one of the most powerful emergencies in Franche-Comté, with floods of up to 100 m3/s. During intense rainy episodes, the surplus drained by the Sarrazine cave, forming the temporary stream of the Bief Sarrazin, the first tributary of the Lison.
In 1899, a project to capture the spring to power a mill threatened to remove its iconic waterfall. The inhabitants of Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne, supported by the MP Charles Beauquier, began a victorious legal fight in 1902. To sustain this protection, on April 21, 1906, Beauquier passed the first French law on the preservation of picturesque sites, known as the Beauquier Act. The source was officially listed on 2 May 1912, becoming a symbol of the conservation of natural heritage. Its unique karst context, with its nassis (natural travertine dams) and its water losses, also makes it a geological and ecological laboratory.
The Lison, 25.37 km long, crosses spectacular gorges before pouring into the Loue in Châtillon-sur-Lison. Its watershed, rich in biodiversity, is home to protected species such as the Grand rhinolophe or the Damier de la succise, justifying its classification as Natura 2000 network. The site also attracts for its historical heritage: Gaulish vestiges of Alaise, gazebos on the gorges, and tailland fed by the Arcange, a tributary. The river, painted by Gustave Courbet in 1864 (La Source du Lison), still inspires today, as evidenced by the TV film Le Repaire de la Vouivre (2010) shot on the spot.
The source plays a key role in French environmental history, but also in local activities: sport fishing, speleology (groats like Sarrazine), and hiking via GR 590. Its abundant flow (water of 1,074 mm/year) makes it a major hydrological resource, although subject to marked seasonal variations. Floods, such as the one in February 1999 (85.4 m3/s), recall the power of this karst system, while its stretching rate (0,300 m3/s) highlights its vulnerability during five-year droughts.
