Gönguskarðsá river is a

spring creek A spring creek is a type of free flowing river whose name derives from its origin: an underground Spring (hydrology), spring or set of springs which produces sufficient water to consistently feed a unique river. The water flowing in a spring cree ...

Skagafjörður Skagafjörður () is a deep fjord and its valley in northern Iceland. Location Skagafjörður, the fjord, is about 40 km long and 15 km wide, situated between Tröllaskagi to the east and the Skagi, Skagi Peninsula to the west. Ther ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

that flows to the ocean in the Gönguskörð estuary in Sauðárkrókur (a little inlet on the shore directly north of the town) off of the north part of

Sauðárkrókur Sauðárkrókur () is a Localities of Iceland, town on the Skagafjörður in northern Iceland. It is the seat of both the Skagafjörður (municipality), Sveitarfélagið Skagafjörður ('Municipality of Skagafjörður') and the Northwestern Re ...

. It is sometimes said to be the deadliest river in Skagafjörður County. Gönguskarðsá originates from Gönguskörð and is a direct runoff stream that collects water from many smaller rivers that fall down from Tindastóll and Molduxi mountains, and the mountains in between. It is swift and difficult to cross in flood conditions, and has been very deadly; nearly 20 people have drowned there. One of them was Guðmundur, father of the singer Stefán Íslandi, who drowned in the spring of 1917. The river was first bridged in 1875. The ''

Landnámabók (, "Book of Settlements"), often shortened to , is a medieval Icelandic written work which describes in considerable detail the settlement () of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries CE. is divided into five parts and ov ...

'' mentions that some settlers landed in the Gönguskörð estuary, where no one has landed in centuries. The river now has a bridge by the estuary and there was an older bridge a little farther up. Gönguskarðsá was a source of

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

from 1947–1949, with the water leading to a small reservoir a little beyond Sauðárkrókur and to the power station in the northernmost part of the town. At the middle of the pipe is a pressure-equalizing tank (water pressure tower) made from concrete, the first in the country. In the spring of 2007, the Gönguskarðsá power station’s supply pipe caved in, taking heavy damage when mud and water flooded houses in the town. Sources report that the river changes it its name to “Kamba” (nine kilometers away from the sea) without any other large rivers flowing into it, and from that point onward it is called Víðidalsá river again. In total, the difference between the Gönguskarðsá and Víðidalsá rivers is said to be about .

References

{{Authority control Skagafjörður Rivers of Iceland