Songdalselva or Søgneelva or Songa is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

Agder Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...

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 the ...

. The long river in the hills between Finsland in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporati ...

municipality and

Hægeland Hægeland or Hægelandskrossen is a village in Vennesla municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located along the northeastern shore of the lake Hægelandsvatnet, a short distance south of the Kilefjorden. The Norwegian National Roa ...

Vennesla Vennesla is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vennesla. Other villages in Vennesla include Grovane, Hægeland, Hom ...

municipality. The catchment area is located between the

Otra The Otra is the largest river in the Sørlandet region of Norway. It begins in Setesdalsheiene mountains at the lake Breidvatnet in Bykle municipality in Agder county, just south of the border with Vinje municipality in Vestfold og Telemark cou ...

river and

Mandalselva Mandalselva or Mandalsåni or Marna (English: Mandal River, non, Mǫrn) is a river in Agder county in Norway. The river has its origins in the mountains between Ose in Setesdal and the Upper Sirdal valley. The river flows south to its mouth at ...

river watersheds. The river runs through the villages of Hortemo, Nodeland, Volleberg,

Tangvall Tangvall is a village in Kristiansand municipality in Agder county, Norway. It was the administrative centre of the old Søgne municipality which existed until 2020. The village is located along the European route E39 highway and the river Søgnee ...

Åros Åros is a village in Røyken in Asker municipality in Viken county, Norway. The population of Åros (2005) is about 1 142. Location Åros is located on the peninsula of Hurumlandet along the western side of the Oslofjord. The river Årose ...

, and

Høllen Høllen is a fishing village in Kristiansand municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located at the mouth of the river Søgneelva, between the villages of Eig to the west, Tangvall to the north, and Åros to the east. Høllen is ...

. The highest hills in the catchment area go up to above sea level. The water flows are normally at their lowest in the summer and they're at their highest levels during the autumn and spring. There are only a few small lakes in the river system. The steep slopes down from the moors can create short and intense flood rapids. The river (here called ''Songa'') flows through the Stallemodalen valley in

, and then falls into the Songdalen valley through a gorge at Underåsen. Once in the

Songdalen Songdalen is a former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1964 until 2020 when it was merged with Søgne and Kristiansand municipalities to form a new, much larger Kristiansand municipality in what i ...

valley, it is called the ''Songdalselva''. Here it receives more water from the right from the Gumpedalselva

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

. The river drops no more than about over the last to the river mouth, and has on this stretch a very

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...

ing run. There is a short waterfall (Søgne waterfall) near the Søgne Landbruksskole. From that waterfall to the sea, the river is called the ''Søgneelva''. The Songdalselva flows into the sea between the villages of

and

municipality. Both

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...

and sea trout are found in the river, and a

fishing license A fishing license ( US), fishing licence ( UK), or fishing permit is an administrative or legal mechanism employed by local governments to regulate fishing. Licensing is one mechanism of fisheries management commonly used in Western countries ...

is required for

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

along the river.

Environment

In the post-war years up until the 1980s, the river was thought of as an open sewer. Bathing and fishing were not recommended. Water quality improved by the time the sewer was led through pipes and cleansed before discharged to the sea. Today's (2016) environmental issue is mainly illegal garbage disposal and plastic waste from farming, accumulation along the banks and flowing into the ocean when the river is flooding. In 1993, the watercourse was protected against

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a w ...

development pursuant to Norwegian law, by development plans through Conservation Plan IV for waterways.

Media gallery

Høllefjorden.JPG, Søgneelva's mouth in Høllefjorden between Åros and Høllen. Songdalselva2.JPG, Songdalselva at the start of the gorge at Underåsen. Sögneelva IMG 3655 sögne.JPG, Viewof the river in Søgne

References

{{authority control Rivers of Agder Geography of Kristiansand Vennesla Rivers of Norway