Sous les ponts de Servoz, des torrents tumultueux, visite commentée

The history of Servoz is linked to the presence, at the bottom of the basin, of an ancient lake retained until the 13th century by moraines and scree following the collapse of part of the Fiz. It also depends on its rivers: the Arve and the Diosaz, natural borders since the 12th century with the Priory of Chamonix.
Their frightful and recurrent floods drag down bridges, devastate flooded lands and constitute obstacles to the circulation of people and goods, until their regulation.
But the impetuosity of the Diosaz river benefited the local industry: mills, wood floating, sawmills, important mining activity until the French Revolution, on the Isle de la Diosaz.
But this tumultuous torrent also carved out exceptional gorges for its endemic flora and fauna, for its vertiginous cliffs that Achille Cazin had developed for a large public.
Today, dams on the Arve and the Diosaz supply water to considerable works: the hydroelectric complexes on Passy and Montvauthier.