Mare aux Evees
La Mare aux Evées is an artificial pond located west of Bois-le-Roi. It was created in a natural clay basin, making it nearly waterproof and without natural drainage. The name comes from "œuvée," meaning a place where egg-laying animals, such as birds, snakes, and amphibians (frogs, toads, and newts), lay their eggs. Dragonflies are also commonly found around the pond.
History and Development
Originally, the area was a vast marshland. Between 1833 and 1835, during the reign of King Louis-Philippe, an ambitious drainage project was undertaken to improve the land. Over 20 km of canals were dug, radiating out from the pond like a star. Achille Marier de Bois d'Hyver's records show that La Mare aux Evées held about 12,300 cubic meters of water at that time. To support the drainage system, trees such as pedunculate oaks, American oaks, firs, spruces, and cypresses were planted along the embankments.
Maintenance
The drainage ditches were cleaned multiple times between 1859 and 1982. In 1979, the Intercommunal Union for the Mare aux Evées was established to maintain the canals and 48 km of embankments. In 1984, large-scale sanitation work began, improving both the pond and nearby agricultural lands.
Transformation
Before these improvements, La Mare aux Evées covered 15.54 hectares, with stagnant water up to 25 cm deep for more than half the year, holding nearly 39,000 cubic meters of water. To manage this, engineers created 20 km of ditches, which could hold over 48,000 cubic meters of water, along with a central basin that added extra storage capacity. These efforts ensured the area would no longer flood, allowing trees and crops to thrive in previously unusable marshland.
The project restored 15 hectares for forest use and cost around 31,415 francs. The central basin, now a permanent water source for the forest, was a valuable addition, transforming a once-barren swamp into a thriving, managed landscape.
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