
Path of the river
'Ätran' is a
Swedish river. The river is about 240
kilometers long, and has its source in
Gullared,
Västergötland, at a height of 332 meters above the sea level. The river has its mouth in
Falkenberg,
Halland, where the river enters
Kattegat.
The
drainage basin has an area of 3,343 km², of which most is forest. The river is well known as a good place for fishing. It is comparativelly unpolluted
A road used for thousands of years, ''Redvägen'', followed the river. Along the road several
battles took place during the
medieval era.
Path, Tributaries and Drainage Basin
| 'Area/Tributary' | 'Drainage Basin (km²)' | 'Average Water Flow (m3/s)' |
| Ätran, upstream Åsunden | 650 | |
| Ätran, between Åsunden and Assman | 379 | 8 |
| Assman (Lillån) | 652 | 9,5 |
| Ätran, between Assman and Kalvån | 45 | 24,5 |
| Kalvån (Lillån) | 514 | 8,2 |
| Ätran, between Kalvån and Högvadsån | 370 | 33,5 |
| Högvadsån | 476 | 8,5 |
| Ätran between Högvadsån and the Sea | 257 | 49 |
| 'Total/Final' | '3 343' | '52,5' |
The river passes through several minor lakes in Västergötland (''Sörsjön'', ''Nolsjö'', ''Vinsarpsjö'' and ''Lönnern''). By the it reaches
Åsunden, a lake of some size, it is about 1-2 meters deep och 6-10 meters wide. As the tributaries named ''Lillån'' join the river it gain considerably in size.
[1]
The largest tributary is
Högvadsån. Other main tributaries are
Assman (Lillån), which join the river close to
Örsås church and
Kalvån (Lillån), which join the river close to
Östra Frölunda church.
The drainage basin include the major parts of
Falkenberg,
Svenljunga,
Tranemo and
Ulricehamn Municipalities. Smaller parts of
Falköping,
Borås,
Gislaved,
Mark,
Hylte and
Varberg Municipalities are also part of the drainage basin. Within the basin 64 percent of the area is forest, 6 percent lakes, 7 procent bogs, 11 procent fields och 12 percent other.
The largest lakes within the basin are Åsunden (33,9 km²),
Fegen (24,2),
Sämsjön (9,2),
Lönern (7,7) och
Kalven (6,6). In total there is about 200 km² of lakes within the basin. The water flow at
Yngeredsfors Power Station has been kept record of. It was on average 37,2 m
3/s during the years 1909-1967. The maximum flow was 275 m
3/s, while the minimum flow was about 5-7 m
3/s.