Between 1614 and 1662, under the influence of Louis XIII and Louis XIV, five projects were born but none solved the water supply problem. Then in 1662 Pierre-Paul Riquet sought to bring water to the area which would become the canal du Midi (between Toulouse and Sète), at a watershed near Seuil de Naurouze, where water flows both to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. He was inspired by the theories of Adam de Craponne which were put into practice at the beginning of the same century by Hugues Cosnier for the canal de Loyre en Seyne (or canal de Briare). Riquet's knowledge of the Montagne Noire and its watercourses led him to imagine a provisioning system based on the diversion of water from many streams and rivers.