Nivelle (river)


The Nivelle is a long river in the Northern Basque Country flowing largely south-east to north-west, with only 7 km of its length being considered navigable. The river results from the union of various streams in Urdazubi, going on to cross the Spanish-French border at Dantxarinea after meandering across Navarrese soil. The river pours into the Bay of Biscay on the bay of Saint-Jean-de-Luz after cutting its way between this town and Ciboure on its final stage. At this point, celebrated Basque French composer and arranger Maurice Ravel was born in one of the front houses overlooking the channel.

Variety of Basque names

For all its shortness, the river takes on several names in Basque language at different stretches of the course, e.g. Sarrakaria, Urma, Uhertsi, besides the above Ugarana and Urdazuri. This conspicuous diversity reflects the historic situation of the native language, deprived of official recognition whatsoever or transmission through formal schooling up to recent times. Locals, when asked for the name of the river in Basque, often may answer Uhandi, meaning "big water", a descriptive naming that has sometimes applied to the neighbouring and main river of Labourd the Errobi/Nive.

Troubled waters

The geographical situation of the basin makes its climate mild under the influence of humid air masses blowing from the sea. Yet the clash between these air currents and the Pyrenean region spurs sudden showers frequently. On May 4, 2007, like in 1983, the banks of the river go through dire consequences on account of floods. Many in the village and the whole basin were subject to extensive damage and injuries, including the facilities and equipment of the touristy caves of Urdazubi/Urdax. Echoing a long-running claim of the inhabitants, the dam Lurberria was built in 2008 to contain swollen waters.

Fishing and river fauna

is well entrenched in the river, especially in its upstream tributaries. In contrast, salmon, trout and shad stick to the lower stretch of the Nivelle, where they fall prey to fishers. Actually, since the 1990s a noticeable fail to achieve the upstream spawning areas has been detected in the salmon population, i.e. 470 individuals in 1993 vs 88 in 2003, the fish remaining largely in the estuary where they are subject to fishing activity. This erratic behaviour has been put down to rising water temperature and climate change. Actually, the threshold of the 12 °C was topped 60% of the days from 2000 to 2002.