2019-06-09
The 20MW Waterfall
Leynifoss or Nýifoss in the Hihglands of Iceland.
by: Rafn Sig,-
Sad things are happening
to the Icelandic Landscape.
Our Government is planning to put a dam at the top of the waterfalls outlet of Hagavatn, which produce Leynifoss/Nýifoss and Farið River.
From there they will put a pressure pipe all the way down to the lowest point where they will place a power station. The waterfall will disappear. The whole landscape will change and we will get 20MW of Electric power instead.
What do you think? – Is it worth it?
With the construction of the Hagavatns power plant, the vast disaster area at Hagavatn will be destroyed, but it has some of the most important geological formation in the country about the history and effects of the glacier disaster in the 20th century.
The river Farið comes from the Lake Hagavatn and it hosts the waterfalls Nýifoss / Leynifoss. The water in Hagavatn comes from melting glacier water which is from Langjökull Glacier
We can say that the waterfall Nýifoss “New Waterfall” is rather new. It also has another name Leynifoss or “the Confidential Waterfall”.
The waterfall was formed in 1939 when the Lake Hagavatn decreased substantially due to the glacial flood coming from under the glacier Langjokull. The Eastern side opened up a new outlet and the water started to pour down over the rocks. This created a canyon where the waterfalls are located.
Nýifoss/Leynifoss is probably not the most beautiful waterfall in Iceland but it is rather interesting as it is located in a sandy gray landscape.
It is also interesting because it falls directly from the glacial lake Hagavatn, no stream or river, just a waterfall directly from a lake. The surroundings are like being in a desert or on the planet Mars but with a lot more water.
As this waterfall is glacial water, it is colored with mud, clay, dirt and all kinds of soil which the melting ice carries from under the glacier. Therefore you will see this brownish color..
The waterfall is situated up in the highlands so there are not many people who know of its existence. Due to the bad road which you have to drive on to reach the location, it is not frequently visited. But it’s worth it.
Some documents related to Hagavatnsvirkjun in Icelandic
1. R3139A Hagavatnsvirkjun Viðauki 34 af 92 frá Mannvit – Janúar 2015
2. Umsögn Ferðafélags Íslands um Hagavatnsvirkjun – Febrúar 2015
3. Hagavatnsvirkjun – Virkjunarkostur R3139A – Mars 2015
4. Framlenging á rannsóknarleyfi Íslenskrar vatnsorku hf – Janúar 2019
5. Mat á Umhverfisáhrifum frá Mannvit – Júlí 2019
If you Google “Hagavatnsvirkjun” you will find lot of other interesting
material about the subject.
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I like to write a little comment to support you.
Thank you for the good write up.
Interesting and also sad of what will happen to this beautiful waterfall.
Pls. keep on fighting for us all