Figgjoelva or Figgjo is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

Rogaland Rogaland () is a county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 479,892. The admin ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The long river begins at the lake Edlandsvatnet in the village of

Ålgård Ålgård (historic: ''Aalgaard'') is the administrative centre of Gjesdal municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located along the European route E39 highway, about southeast of the city of Sandnes in the Jæren district of t ...

Gjesdal Gjesdal is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ålgård. Other villages in Gjesdal include Dirdal, Frafjord, Gilja, ...

municipality. It then heads north into the municipality of

Sandnes Sandnes () is a city and municipality in Rogaland, Norway. It lies immediately south of Stavanger, the 4th largest city in Norway and together, the Stavanger/Sandnes area is the third-largest urban area in Norway. The urban city of Sandnes lie ...

before heading west. For a while, the river forms the municipal border between

and

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

and between Sandnes and

Klepp Klepp is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kleppe. Other villages in Klepp include Klepp stasjon, Orre, Orstad, P ...

. The last part of the river runs west through Klepp before emptying into the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. The Feistein Lighthouse lies on a small island, just northwest of the mouth of the river. The main part of the river is , but if you include the tributaries, the river is about twice as long at . The river was developed for power generation as early as 1870, but the many small power plants that were built are now mostly closed. The plants led to the development of several industries, particularly in

. The ''Aalgaards Uldvarefabrikker'', a large wool-textile company based in Ålgård was established in 1870 along with the first power stations. The river Figgjo was the second largest salmon river in Rogaland county in the year 2000 when of

salmon Salmon () is the common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of ...

and of

sea trout Sea trout is the common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of e ...

were caught. Historically, the river was also fished for eels. The invasive species,

Elodea canadensis ''Elodea canadensis'' (American waterweed or Canadian waterweed or pondweed) is a perennial aquatic plant, or submergent macrophyte, native to most of North America.Flora of North America''Elodea canadensis''/ref>Plants of British Columbia''Elod ...

(pondweed) has been detected in the river Figgjo as has

agricultural pollution Agricultural pollution refers to biotic and abiotic byproducts of farming practices that result in contamination or degradation of the environment and surrounding ecosystems, and/or cause injury to humans and their economic interests. The pol ...

, both of which may affect the quality and quantity of fish life in the river.

References

Gjesdal Rivers of Rogaland Rivers of Norway {{Norway-river-stub

See also

References