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 Konne ...

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 Sauherad in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. It is 55 km² in area and 15 meters above sea level. Norsjø is part of the Telemark Canal. Most rivers in Telemark meet Norsjø on ...

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 l ...

Bandak Bandak is a lake in the municipalities of Kviteseid and Tokke in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The lake, which is part of the Telemark Canal route, belongs to the Skien watershed. The river Tokke flows into the lake, and the outlet i ...

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. Tokke River rises from Lake Totak in

Vinje Vinje is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Telemark in the Counties of Norway, county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional regions of Upper Telemark and Vest-Telemark. The administrative ...

. * Bøelva watershed, which includes lakes Sundsbarmvatn and Seljordsvatn. Bøelva flows into Lake Norsjø at Årnesbukta. * Tinnelva 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 Kalhovdfjorden is a lake belonging to the municipality of Tinn in Vestfold og Telemark county in southern Norway. Kalhovdfjorden belongs to the catchment of the river Skien. The river Mår comes out of the lake. The lake is part of the Skiensva ...

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 as well as the

Hjartdøla Hjartdøla is a river in Hjartdal municipality in Vestfold og Telemark, Norway. The river is formed at the convergence of Skjesvatnet, Breidvatnet and Bjordøla. From here, it runs into lake Hjartsjå and through Hjartdal, before it junction w ...

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 Skien we ...

, 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 a ...

'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 w ...

to the mouth of the river at Frierfjord at

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 a ...

'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 12t ...

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 na ...

. 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 Vestfold og Telemark Siljan, Norway