Sundefossen

Sundefossen is the major waterfall of the Austrepollelva as it descends from the Folgefonna Ice cap into Maurangsfjorden in the town of Gjerde. The falls have typically been cited as dropping around 550 meters (1,800 feet), however that figure is a poor estimate of the total loss in elevation from the dam upstream of the falls to somewhere below the falls where the gradient eases up that may have at one time been used to illustrate the hydroelectric potential for the stream. The actual waterfall itself begins nearly 300 meters lower down the mountain than the dam, and the falls drop approximately 230 meters (755 feet) in two main tiers, both horsetail type falls, before the stream resumes cascading down a talus slope for several hundred meters further. Sundefossen has been regulated and de-watered as part of the Mauranger Hydroelectric project since at least 1974. The falls naturally flowed quite forcefully, with the melt from as many as 5 separate glaciers that descend from the Folgefonna Ice Cap contributing to the Austrepollelva. The dam above the falls ensures that 100% of the stream's natural volume is diverted away from its natural channel, so the only situation where the falls may flow again is if the reservoir is at capacity and is overwhelmed by excess snow melt, or if the diversion systems are temporarily disabled for maintenance.