Hallingdalselva

Historie

Hallingdalselva is a river which flows through the valley and traditional district of Hallingdal in Buskerud County, Norway. Within the valley, the river is often referred to as the Great River .Hallingdal River rises from within the Hardangervidda mountain plateau. Hallingdal River is formed by the confluence of the Usta River which flows from Lake Ustevatn and the Holselva River from Lake Strandavatnet. Hallingdal River flows from the north into Lake Krøderen at Gulsvik. Lake Krøderen discharges via the Snarumselva at the south end of the lake.A number of rivers flow into the Hallingdal River including the Votna, Lya, Hemsil, Todøla and Rukkedøla. Hallingdal River has a total length of 220km and a catchment area of 4587km2. The river falls 318m in its journey to Krøderen, which is 132m above sea-level. There are many hydro-electric power stations in the valley with an annual power production of about 4 TWh. The whole river system is now almost fully developed with a total of 13 power plants. The largest plants are Hol I-III, Nes, Usta and Hemsil I-II . The total average annual production is approximately 4143 GWh. Most of the waterfall rights are owned by E-CO Energi.