Vestari-Jökulsá or Jökulsá vestri (English: Western Glacier River) is a glacier river in

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 ...

. It originates in the northwest corner of

Hofsjökull __NOTOC__ Hofsjökull (Icelandic language, Icelandic: "temple glacier", ) is the third largest ice cap in Iceland after Vatnajökull and Langjökull and covers the largest active central volcano in the country, which has the same name. It is si ...

and is formed from many branches that fall together and flow northward. The beginning of the river runs through relatively low-pitched and level land, through a deep canyon, called Þröngagil. It then follows the length of a valley finally falling into

Vesturdalur Vesturdalur ("west valley") is a valley that runs from the head of Skagafjörður, Iceland and cuts far into the central Highlands of Iceland, highlands. Austurdalur valley runs parallel to it. The valleys are surrounded by tall, steep mountains ...

to the northeast, where

Hofsá Hofsá (, "shrine river") is a river in Vopnafjörður in the Northeastern part of Iceland. It is long and is a productive salmon river. Salmon fishing The average annual catch between 1974 and 2013 was 1,119 salmon. The maximum catch during t ...

("Temple river") flows into it. Hofsá runs briefly along Vesturdalur, before joining the

Austari-Jökulsá Austari-Jökulsá (, "easterly glacier river") is a glacial river in the north of Iceland. After the confluence with Vestari-Jökulsá it forms the Héraðsvötn. Name The name means Eastern Glacial River,https://grapevine.is/mads/2017/07/18/rive ...

at Tunguháll, at which point the rivers are known as the

Héraðsvötn Héraðsvötn (), whose name is often shortened to Vötn or Vötnin (and was called Jökulsá in previous centuries) is a glacier river in Iceland. It is formed by the confluence of Austari-Jökulsá and Vestari-Jökulsá. The Héraðsvötn is ...

. There have been discussions about using both rivers for

power plants A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many power ...

, with various possible locations under consideration, though most discussions have revolved around a potential power plant in Villinganes, located a little below the confluence. Others want to grant the rivers protected status.

White-water rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

is available on both the Vestari- and Austari-Jökulsá, which are considered particularly well suited to this activity.

Bibliography

* Hallgrímur Jónasson: ''Árbók Ferðafélags Íslands''. Skagafjörður. Ferðafélag Íslands, 1946. * Hjalti Pálsson (ritstj.): ''Byggðasaga Skagafjarðar'' II. bindi. Lýtingsstaðahreppur. Sögufélag Skagfirðinga, 2004. ISBN 978-9979-861-13-4

References

{{Authority control Rivers of Iceland Skagafjörður