The Skien watershed is the third largest

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

of Norway after those of the

Glomma The Glomma or Glåma is Norway's longest and most voluminous river. With a total length of , it has a drainage basin that covers 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country. Geography At its fullest length, the river r ...

and the

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...

rivers. The catchment area is , and the maximum length is . The Skien watershed includes rivers which feed Lake

Norsjø Norsjø is a lake in the municipalities of Skien, Nome, and Midt-Telemark in Telemark county, Norway. The lake sits at an elevation of above sea level. Norsjø is part of the Telemark Canal. Most rivers in Telemark flow into the lake Norsj� ...

above

Skien Skien () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative ...

; * Vinje-Tokke watershed, which includes lakes

Totak Totak is a lake in Vinje Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The lake is located in the Rauland area, about to the north of the village of Åmot. The lake is part of the Skien river watershed ('' Skiensvassdraget''), discharging via the ...

Bandak Bandak is a lake in the municipalities of Kviteseid and Tokke in Telemark county, Norway. The lake, which is part of the Telemark Canal route, belongs to the Skien Drainage basin, watershed. The river Tokke (river), Tokke flows into the lake, a ...

Kviteseidvatn Kviteseidvatn or KviteseidvatnetThe suffix "''-et''" is a form of the Norwegian language definite article and means "the". Hence ''Kviteseidvatnet'' is equivalent to "the Kviteseidvatn." Both forms can be found in English language text. is a lake ...

and

Flåvatn Flåvatn is a lake in the municipalities of Nome and Kviteseid in Telemark county, Norway. The lake is the easternmost of the three connected lakes Bandak, Kviteseidvatnet and Flåvatn, which are all part of the Telemark Canal. The lake's area ...

. Tokke River rises from Lake Totak in

Vinje Vinje is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vest-Telemark which is part of Øvre Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Åmot. Other villages in the muni ...

. * Bøelva watershed, which includes lakes Sundsbarmvatn and

Seljordsvatn Seljordsvatnet () is a lake in Seljord Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. A small part of the very far eastern edge of the lake crosses over into Midt-Telemark Municipality. The lake is part of the Skien watershed. The lake's main inflo ...

. Bøelva flows into Lake Norsjø at Årnesbukta. * Tinnelva watershed, which includes the lakes

Møsvatn Møsvatn or Møsvann is a lake in Vinje Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is the tenth-largest lake in Norway with a surface area of and a volume of . The lake lies just east of the Hardangervidda National Park, in Skien watershed ...

Kalhovdfjorden Kalhovdfjorden is a lake in Tinn Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The lake lies about to the north of the town of Rjukan and about east of the Hardangervidda National Park. The lake is part of the Skien watershed. The river Mår is the ...

Lake Tinn A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

and Heddalsvatn as well as the

Hjartdøla Hjartdøla is a river in Hjartdal municipality in Telemark, Norway. The long river is part of the Skien watershed. The river is formed at the confluence of the river Bjordøla and some smaller rivers coming from the lakes Skjesvatnet and Breidv ...

River. The Skien River (''Skienselva'') begins in

Skotfoss Skotfoss is a village in Skien Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The village is located along the river Farelva where lake Norsjø feeds into the Skien watershed. It is located across the river from the village of Åfoss. It is located ...

, at the

Telemark Canal The Telemark Canal connects the towns Skien and Dalen, Telemark, Dalen in southern Norway by linking several long lakes in the Skiensvassdraget, Skien watershed through a series of 18 lock (water transport), locks. It originally consisted of two ...

's first lock, and runs through

Porsgrunn is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Porsgrunn (town), city ...

to the mouth of the river at

Frierfjord Frier or Frierfjord is a fjord in Telemark county, Norway. The long fjord is located along the Skaggerak coast in the traditional district of Grenland and it forms the border with the municipalities of Bamble, Skien, and Porsgrunn. The fjord is ...

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norway, Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around th ...

's factory complex. The Skien watershed is heavily regulated for power production and large parts are channeled. The Telemark Canal connects Skien to

Dalen Dalen (Dutch Low Saxon: ''Daoln'') is a village and a former municipality in the northeastern Netherlands, in the province of Drenthe. Since 1998, Dalen has been part of the municipality of Coevorden. The village was first mentioned in the 12th ...

at the delta where Tokke River flows into the west end of the Lake Bandak. The canal links the long lakes of Norsjø, Flåvatn, Kviteseidvatn and Bandak using a series of eight locks. Norsjø-Skien Canal, with locks in Skien and by Løveid, was built in 1854–61 and is the oldest of the two channels. This channel connects with Bryggevannet harbor in Skien, and Frierfjord in

Bamble Bamble is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Langesund ...

. Bandak-Norsjø Canal is the second original channel and was opened in 1892.''Om oss'' (Telemarkskanalens)
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References

Other sources

*Eie, Jon Arne; Per Einar Faugli; Jens Aabel (1996) ''Elver og vann. Vern av norske vassdrag'' (Grøndahl Dreyer) {{Coord, 59.5583, 8.4068, region:NO-38, format=dms, display=title Rivers of Telemark Siljan, Norway Rivers of Vestland