Orkla (river)

The Orkla is a river in Trøndelag and Innlandet counties in Norway. At 180 kilometres (110 mi) in length, it is the longest river in Trøndelag county. The river follows the Orkdalen valley, discharging into the Orkdalsfjorden, an arm of the large Trondheimsfjorden, at the town of Orkanger.[1]

Orkla
Mouth of the river at Orkanger
Location of the river
Orkla (river) (Norway)
Location
CountryNorway
CountiesTrøndelag, Innlandet
MunicipalitiesOrkland, Rennebu, Tynset
Physical characteristics
SourceOrkelsjøen
 • locationOppdal, Trøndelag
 • coordinates62.5102°N 09.8775°E / 62.5102; 09.8775
 • elevation1,058 metres (3,471 ft)
MouthTrondheimsfjorden
 • location
Orkland, Trøndelag
 • coordinates
63.31927°N 09.841218°E / 63.31927; 09.841218
 • elevation
0 metres (0 ft)
Length179 km (111 mi)
Basin size3,053 km2 (1,179 sq mi)
Discharge 
 • average67.27 m3/s (2,376 cu ft/s)
Basin features
River systemOrkla
Tributaries 
 • leftInna, Byna, Grana, and Resa
 • rightYa and Svorka

The river originates in the lake Orkelsjøen in the municipality of Oppdal in the Dovrefjell mountains. The river runs through the municipalities of Oppdal, Tynset, Rennebu, and Orkland. The municipalities are all in Trøndelag county, except for Tynset, which is in Innlandet county. Major towns and villages along the river include: Orkanger, Fannrem, Vormstad, Svorkmo, Storås, Meldal, Å (in Orkland); and Voll and Berkåk (in Rennebu).

The Orkla is a popular river for salmon fishing, a famous fisherman there being former Liverpool player Vegard Heggem. About an 88-kilometre (55 mi) long stretch of the river through Orkdal, Meldal, and Rennebu is used for salmon fishing throughout the season from June through August.[2]

The river is regulated by five power generation reservoirs, which were built between 1978 and 1985. The reservoirs have been a successful method of flood control preventing the river's major seasonal flooding.[1] The decommissioned Eidsfossen Power Station stands along the river south of the confluence with the Ya River at Yset.[3]

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was just Ork (still found in the names Orkanger, Orkland and Orkland). The meaning of the name is unknown (maybe derived from the verb orka which means "to work" - the meaning of the name would then be "the river that works its way forward"). The name Orkla (with the diminutive ending -la) originally belonged to the uppermost part of the river (lying in Tynset, Hedmark), and the meaning of this name is probably "the small part of Ork".[1]

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See also
  • List of rivers in Norway

References
  1. Store norske leksikon. "Orkla" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2011-01-27.
  2. "The Orkla River". VisitNorway.com. Retrieved 2011-01-27.
  3. "Eidsfossen". Kvikne i storbukkens rike. Retrieved July 24, 2018.


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