Gabas (river)

The Gabas (French pronunciation: [ɡabas]; Occitan: Gabàs) is a left tributary of the Adour, in the Landes, in the Southwest of France. It is 116.7 km (72.5 mi) long. The name Gabas is derived from the French gave (Gascon: 'gabe'), which in the Pyrenees generically describes a small or large watercourse. The river was known as the fluvius gavasensis in 982. A tributary of the Léez is named the Gabassot, a hypocoristic of Gabas. The Gabas rises in the plateau of Ger in the north of Lourdes, as the union of the Gabastou and the Honrède. It flows north-west like the neighboring rivers: the Luy, the Uzan and the Ousse. The Gabas crosses the Tursan, in the Landes. It flows into the Adour in Toulouzette, downstream from Saint-Sever. A dam of 20 million cubic metres (16,000 acre⋅ft) was built in its upper course to regulate the lowest water level.