This official name was never adopted by the local population, which refers simply to the Deûle, evoking its original state as a natural river, although it has the size and the appearance of a built canal.

[1] Parts of the Deule were made navigable as early as the 13th century, but goods had to be portaged round a natural sill at an island, which gave its name to the regional capital Lille.

As with many other small streams in the lowlands of France, Belgium and the Netherlands, the destiny of the relatively short river Deûle was to become a heavily engineered waterway, to serve the transport needs of industry.

'Heavily modified water bodies' like the successive reaches of the Deûle form an environment that is worth preserving for overall environmental benefits that are very different from the hypothetical situation where the stream were to be left in its natural state.

Navigation is more than ever the principal function, and upgrading of the waterway downstream of Lille is currently proceeding, to provide European Class Vb dimensions, for push-tows of up to 180m long and 12m in beam.