Orkla (river)


The Orkla is a river in Trøndelag and Innlandet counties in Norway. At 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.
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 ; and Voll and Berkåk.
The Orkla is a popular river for salmon fishing, a famous fisherman there being former Liverpool player Vegard Heggem. About an long stretch of the river through Orkdal, Meldal, and Rennebu is used for salmon fishing throughout the season from June through August.
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. The decommissioned Eidsfossen Power Station stands along the river south of the confluence with the Ya River at Yset.

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was just Ork. The meaning of the name is unknown. The name Orkla originally belonged to the uppermost part of the river, and the meaning of this name is probably "the small part of Ork".