The
Dombes is an area in South-Eastern France, bounded by the rivers Saône,
Rhône, and
Ain, which forms an undulating plateau with a slight slope towards the north-west. Due to the fact that is characterized by an impervious surface consisting of boulder clay and other relics of glacial action, it has a large number of rain-water pools, artificially created in 15th century or in earlier periods by proprietors who saw a surer source of revenue in fish-breeding than in agriculture. The resulted diseases and depopulation forced the Legislative Assembly to decide to reduce (at the end of the 18th century) the area of the pools, which then covered twice their present extent. Large numbers of fish, principally carp, pike, and tench are still reared profitably. The pools are periodically dried up so the ground can be cultivated.
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