The Skien watershed is the third largest watershed 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 fully 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country. Geography At its fullest length, the ...

and the

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken, 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 as Konner ...

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

Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the ...

; * Vinje-Tokke watershed, which includes lakes

Totak Totak is a lake in the municipality of Vinje in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The lake is part of the Skien river watershed ( Skiensvassdraget), discharging via the river Tokke to lake Bandak. At 306 m Totak is the 10th deepest la ...

, Bandak,

Kviteseidvatn Kviteseidvatn (or ''Kviteseidvatnet''The 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 ...

and

Flåvatn Flåvatn is a lake in the municipalities of Nome and Kviteseid in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the west ...

. Tokke River rises from Lake Totak in

Vinje Vinje is a municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional regions of Upper Telemark and Vest-Telemark. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Åmot. General in ...

. * Bøelva watershed, which includes lakes Sundsbarmvatn and

Seljordsvatn Seljord Lake (''Seljordsvatnet'') is a lake in the municipality Seljord in Vestfold og Telemark, Norway. The main influx river is Vallaråi, and the lake drains through Bøelva. The lake covers an area of . According to local folklore Selma, a ...

. Bøelva flows into Lake Norsjø at Årnesbukta. *

Tinnelva Tinnelva is a river in Notodden, Vestfold og Telemark Vestfold og Telemark (; ) is a county under disestablishment in Norway. The county is the southernmost one of Eastern Norway and consists of two distinct and separate traditional regions: th ...

watershed, which includes the lakes

Møsvatn Møsvatn (or Møsvann) is the tenth-largest lake in Norway with a surface area of 78.31 km2. It lies primarily Møsstrond, Vinje in Vestfold og Telemark. The lake lies in the watershed of the Skien river (''Skiensvassdrag'') and discharges ...

, Kalhovdfjorden,

Lake Tinn A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

and

Heddalsvatn Heddalsvatnet ( en, Lake Heddal) is a lake in the municipalities Notodden and Sauherad in Vestfold og Telemark, Norway. The main influx comes from the rivers Tinnelva and Heddøla. The lake covers an area of 11.9 km2 or 13.2 km2 according to N ...

as well as the

Hjartdøla Hjartdøla is a river in Hjartdal municipality in Vestfold og Telemark, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost po ...

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

Skotfoss Skotfoss is a village in Skien municipality, Norway, located where lake Norsjø feeds into the Skien Watershed. The village has a population of 1,700 people. Skotfoss was a part of Solum municipality until the municipalities of Solum and Skie ...

, at the

Telemark Canal The Telemark Canal connects the towns Skien and Dalen in southern Norway by linking several long lakes in the Skien watershed through a series of 18 locks. It originally consisted of two canals. The Norsjø–Skien Canal, with locks in Skien ...

's first lock, and runs through

Porsgrunn is a city and municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn. The municipality of Porsgrunn wa ...

to the mouth of the river at

Frierfjord Frierfjorden is a fjord in the Grenland traditional district in the county of Telemark, Norway. It is an arm of the Langesundsfjord and well into the 1700s was also known as the Langesundsfjord. Frierfjorden stretches from the opening to Langes ...

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a 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 the world ...

'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 municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Langesund. General information Name The Old Norse form of the nam ...

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

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 Vestfold og Telemark Siljan, Norway