In the 19th century, the springs and the three cisterns of Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt were no longer sufficient to supply the 3,000 inhabitants with water. A first dam, today submerged but still visible, was therefore built in 1836 upstream of the current dam. A tunnel located under the dam and now closed by a grid allowed crossing the rock to convey water to the cisterns and fountains. The larger volume of the 1902 dam's water retention improved the supply to the village, where a drinking water network was finally installed in 1954.