Hallingdalselva () is a river which flows through the

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

and traditional district of

Hallingdal Hallingdal () is a valley as well as a traditional district located in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud county in Norway. It consists of six municipalities: Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål and Hol. Hallingdal is one of the ma ...

Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...

County,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Within the valley, the river is often referred to as the Great River (''Storåne''). Hallingdal River rises from within the

Hardangervidda Hardangervidda () is a mountain plateau ( Norwegian: ''vidde'') in central southern Norway, covering parts of Vestland, Telemark, and Buskerud counties. It is the largest plateau of its kind in Europe, with a cold year-round alpine climate, and o ...

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 Strandavatnet is a lake in Hol, Norway, Hol municipality, Norway. The lake covers an area of , and lies above sea level.' The lake is a reservoir for the Rud hydroelectric powerstation in Hovet, Buskerud. In 1952/1953 a dam was constructed which ...

. Hallingdal River flows from the north into Lake Krøderen (''Krøderfjorden'') at

Gulsvik Gulsvik is a village in the municipality of Flå in Buskerud, Norway. It is located in Hallingdal at the north end of Lake Krøderen. The center of the village lies at Gulsvik Rail Station. Bergensbanen railway terminated at Gulsvik Station fro ...

. Lake Krøderen discharges via the

Snarumselva Snarumselva is a river in Buskerud county, Norway. It flows north to south from Krøderen, a lake in Krødsherad municipality, to Geithus, a village in Modum municipality, where it joins the Drammenselva river. The total length of Snarumselva is a ...

(Snamum river) 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 and a catchment area of . The river falls in its journey to Krøderen, which is 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 (275 MW), Nes (250 MW), Usta (184 MW) and Hemsil I-II (152 MW). The total average annual production is approximately 4143 GWh. Most of the waterfall rights are owned by

E-CO Energi E-CO Energi is a Norwegian power company and after Statkraft the second largest producer of electricity in Norway. Structure E-CO is wholly owned by the City of Oslo. Operations are divided into E-CO Vannkraft, E-CO Norne and Oslo Lysverker. E ...

References

External links

Fishing in the Hallingdal River
Rivers of Buskerud Hol, Norway Ål Gol, Norway Nesbyen Flå {{Buskerud-geo-stub