Inkomati Water Management Area

Last updated April 09, 2019

Inkomati WMA, or Inkomati Water Management Area (coded: 5),^[1] in South Africa is situated in the north-eastern part of South Africa in the Mpumalanga Province, with a small area in the Limpopo Province. It borders on Mozambique in the east and on Swaziland in the south-east. The water management area extends over several parallel river catchments which all drain in a general easterly direction, and flow together at the border with Mozambique or within Mozambique, to form the Incomati River which discharges into the Indian Ocean immediately north of Maputo. A special situation is presented by the Komati River, the most southern tributary of the Incomati River, which rises in South Africa and flows into Swaziland, then re-enters South Africa where it is joined by the Crocodile River at the border with Mozambique, before flowing into Mozambique as the Incomati River. The Sabie River is the other main river in the water management area and flows into Corumuna Dam in Mozambique just downstream of the border with South Africa, and upstream of its confluence with the Inkomati River.

South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini (Swaziland); and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho. South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and, with over 57 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages, nine of which have official status. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European (White), Asian (Indian), and multiracial (Coloured) ancestry.

Mpumalanga is a province of South Africa. The name means "east", or literally "the place where the sun rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Swaziland and Mozambique. It constitutes 6.5% of South Africa's land area. It shares borders with the South African provinces of Limpopo to the north, Gauteng to the west, the Free State to the southwest, and KwaZulu-Natal to the south. The capital is Mbombela (Nelspruit).

Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The name "Limpopo" has its etymological origin in the Northern Sotho language word diphororo tša meetse, meaning "strong gushing waterfalls". The capital is Polokwane.

Topographical features

The most important topographical feature in the Inkomati water management area is the Great Escarpment, which divides the water management area into the Plateau area in the west (elevation of more than 2 000 m above sea level) and the Lowveld in the east. Largely attributable to the topography, distinct differences in climate occur, from temperate Highveld in the west to sub-tropical in the eastern Lowveld. Rainfall is strongly seasonal and occurs mainly in summer. Light snow occasionally falls in the vicinity of the southwestern divide in winter. The mean annual rainfall is in the range from 400 mm to 1 000 mm over most of the water management area, reaching close to 1 500 mm in the mountainous areas along the escarpment. The north-eastern part of the water management area falls within the world-renowned Kruger National Park. The Sabie River which flows through the park, is one of the ecologically most important rivers in the country, whilst the Crocodile River forms the southern border to the park. Several private game reserves adjoin the Kruger National Park, with other conservation areas throughout in the water management area.

The Great Escarpment is a major topographical feature in Africa that consists of steep slopes from the high central Southern African plateau downward in the direction of the oceans that surround Southern Africa on three sides. While it lies predominantly within the borders of South Africa, in the east it extends northwards to form the border between Mozambique and Zimbabwe, continuing on beyond the Zambezi River valley to form the Muchinga Escarpment in eastern Zambia. In the west, it continues northwards into Namibia and Angola.

The Highveld is the portion of the South African inland plateau which has an altitude above roughly 1500 m, but below 2100 m, thus excluding the Lesotho mountain regions to the south-east of the Highveld. It is home to some of the country's most important commercial farming areas, as well as its largest concentration of metropolitan centres, especially the Gauteng conurbation, which accommodates one-third of South Africa's population.

Kruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of 19,485 square kilometres (7,523 sq mi) in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends 360 kilometres (220 mi) from north to south and 65 kilometres (40 mi) from east to west. The administrative headquarters are in Skukuza. Areas of the park were first protected by the government of the South African Republic in 1898, and it became South Africa's first national park in 1926.

Sub-management areas

4 sub-management area are made, they are:

1) The Komati West sub-management area (West of Swaziland), comprising the portion of the Komati River catchment to the west of Swaziland.
2) The Komati North sub-management area (North of Swaziland), which includes the portion of the Komati River catchment north of Swaziland to the confluence of the Crocodile River.
3) The Crocodile sub-management area, which corresponds to the catchment of the Crocodile River.
4) The Sabie sub-management area, which includes the catchment of the Sabie River together with the Massintonto River and the Nwanetsi River catchments to the north.

The Komati River is a river in South Africa, Eswatini and Mozambique. It is 480 kilometres (298 mi) long, with a drainage basin 50,000 square kilometres (19,300 sq mi) in size. Its mean annual discharge is 111 m³/s at its mouth. The name Komati is derived from inkomati (siSwati), meaning "cow", as its perennial nature is compared to a cow that always has milk.

The Crocodile River, also referred to as Crocodile River (East), is a large river traversing Mpumalanga province of South Africa.

Dams Included

The WMA Includes the following major rivers: the Nwanedzi River, Sabie River, Crocodile (East) River and Komati River, and covers the following Dams:

The Sabie River is a river in South Africa that forms part of the Komati River System. The catchment area of the Sabie-Sand system is 6,320 km² in extent. The Sabie is one of the most biologically diverse rivers in South Africa, with generally good water quality.

Da Gama Dam, is an earthfill/gravity-type dam on the Witwaters River, near White River, Mpumalanga, South Africa. It was established in 1971 and its main purpose is for irrigation. Its hazard potential has been ranked to be high.

Driekoppies Dam is a gravity/earth-fill type dam on the Lomati River, near Malelane, Mpumalanga, South Africa. It was established in 1998 and its primary purpose is for irrigation.

Kwena Dam is a combined gravity & arch type dam located on the Crocodile River, near Lydenburg, Mpumalanga province, South Africa. It was established in 1984 and it serves mainly for irrigation purposes. The hazard potential of the dam has been ranked high (3).

Boundaries

Primary drainage region X.

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References

↑ "Hydrological Services - Surface Water Home". Dwaf.gov.za. 2008-09-03. Archived from the original on 2015-03-26. Retrieved 2015-05-03.

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[1] "Hydrological Services - Surface Water Home". Dwaf.gov.za. 2008-09-03. Archived from the original on 2015-03-26. Retrieved 2015-05-03.