List of drainage basins of South Africa

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A drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain and melting snow or ice drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean. The drainage basin includes both the streams and rivers that convey the water as well as the land surfaces from which water drains into those channels, and is separated from adjacent basins by a drainage divide.

Contents

The drainage basin acts like a funnel, collecting all the water within the area covered by the basin and channelling it into a waterway. Each drainage basin is separated topographically from adjacent basins by a geographical barrier such as a ridge, hill or mountain, which is known as a water divide.

Other terms that are used to describe a drainage basin are catchment, catchment area, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin, water basin and watershed.

The drainage basins in South Africa do not correspond with the Water Management Areas, and have the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, and X. The Area A comes close to the same area that the Limpopo WMA seems to cover. Apart from these letters they seem to have no name referring to them. What seems to be the case though is that each area refers to some major river systems and their tributaries (a region for each major river system).

List of drainage basins

Code [A] NameArea km2Gross capacity x103m3Nr. regionsMajor riversDrains toNotes
A 1,2849 Limpopo River Indian Ocean [B]
B 1,5029 Olifants River Limpopo River
C 7,9419 Vaal River Orange River [C] [D]
D 11,1058 Orange River (below Gariep Dam), Kraai River South Atlantic
E 1284 Olifants River (above confluence with the Doring River), Groot River South Atlantic
F 6 Buffels River South Atlantic
G4455 Berg River, Diep River, Eerste River, Verlorevlei River, Bot River, Klein River, Uilkraal River South Atlantic
H 1,0249 Hex River, Kingna River, Breede River (below Brandvlei Dam), Tributaries of the Sonderend River above theewaterskloof Dam Indian Ocean
J2004 Touws River, Gamka River, Olifants River, Langtou River, Weyers River
K1839 Little Brak River, Great Brak River, Karatara River, Knysna River, Keurbooms River, Bloukrans River, Lottering River, Storms River, Sandrif River, Groot River, Tsitsikamma River, Klippedrift River, Kromme River, Seekoei River, Kabelkous River Indian Ocean
L2199 Baviaanskloof River, Kouga River, Lower Gamtoos River
M123 Swartkops River, Maitland River, Van Stadens River Indian Ocean
N2274 Sundays River (below Darlington Dam, and above Vanrynevelds Pass Dam), Skoenmakers River (below Skoenmakers Canal Outlet), Gats River Indian Ocean [D]
P4 Bushmans River, Kowie River, Kariega River Indian Ocean
Q1319 Great Fish River, Little Fish River, Tarka River, Vlekpoort River, Lake Arthur Indian Ocean [D]
R2115 Buffels River, Kwenxura River, Kwelera River, Gonubie River, Nahoon River
S6107 White Kei River (above Xonxa Dam), Indwe River (above Lubisi Dam), Swart Kei River (above Klipplaat River confluence), Klipplaat River (above Waterdown Dam), Oxkraal River (above Oxkraal Dam), Thorn River, Thomas River, Tsomo River, Kwa-Qokwama River, Mbokotwa River, Kubisi River (above Wriggleswade Dam), Toise River, Xilinxa River (above Xilinxa Dam)
T2489 Slang River, Xuka River, Mtata River (above Mtata Dam), Tsitsa River, Pot River, Mooi River, Inxu River, Wildebees River, Gatberg River Indian Ocean
U8068 Mgeni River, Mvoti River Indian Ocean
V1,1107 Tugela River, Mooi River, Sundays River, Bushmans River Indian Ocean [B]
W3,2837 Umfolozi River, White Umfolozi River, Black Umfolozi River, Pongola River, Mkuze River Indian Ocean
X1,0494 Nkomati River , Crocodile River

See also

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Vaal River Tributary of the Orange River, South Africa

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Tugela River River in South Africa

The Tugela River is the largest river in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. With a total length of 531 km (330 mi), it is one of the most important rivers of the country.

Vaal Dam Dam in Border Gauteng and Free State

The Vaal Dam in South Africa was constructed in 1938 and lies 77 km south of OR Tambo International Airport. The lake behind the dam wall has a surface area of about 320 square kilometres (120 sq mi) and is 47 meters deep. The Vaal Dam lies on the Vaal River, which is one of South Africa's strongest-flowing rivers. Other rivers flowing into the dam are the Wilge River, Klip River, Molspruit and Grootspruit. It has over 800 kilometres (500 mi) of shoreline and is South Africa's second biggest dam by area and the fourth largest by volume.

Olifants River (Limpopo)

The Olifants River,Lepelle, iBhalule or Obalule is a river in South Africa and Mozambique, a tributary of the Limpopo River. It falls into the Drainage Area B of the Drainage basins of South Africa. The historical area of the Pedi people, Sekhukhuneland, is located between the Olifants River and one of its largest tributaries, the Steelpoort River.

Mokolo River

The Mokolo River is a major watercourse in Limpopo Province of South Africa. This river collects much of the drainage of the Waterberg Massif and discharges it to the Limpopo River. The river's catchment area comprises 8,387 square kilometres (3,238 sq mi).

Sterkfontein Dam Dam in Free State

The Sterkfontein Dam, located just outside the town of Harrismith, in the Free State, province of South Africa, is part of the Tugela-Vaal Water Project and the Drakensberg Pumped Storage Scheme, and located on the Nuwejaarspruit, a tributary of the Wilge River in the upper catchment area of the Vaal River. It is the second highest dam wall in South Africa and its highest earth fill dam.

Interbasin transfer

Interbasin transfer or transbasin diversion are terms used to describe man-made conveyance schemes which move water from one river basin where it is available, to another basin where water is less available or could be utilized better for human development. The purpose of such water resource engineering schemes can be to alleviate water shortages in the receiving basin, to generate electricity, or both. Rarely, as in the case of the Glory River which diverted water from the Tigris to Euphrates River in modern Iraq, interbasin transfers have been undertaken for political purposes. While ancient water supply examples exist, the first modern developments were undertaken in the 19th century in Australia, India and the United States, feeding large cities such as Denver and Los Angeles. Since the 20th century many more similar projects have followed in other countries, including Israel and China, and contributions to the Green Revolution in India and hydropower development in Canada.

Kilburn Dam Dam in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

The Kilburn Dam, an earth-fill type dam and part of the Tugela-Vaal Water Project and Drakensberg Pumped Storage Scheme, is located 500 metres (1,600 ft) lower than the Sterkfontein Dam, on the Mnjaneni River, near Bergville, KwaZulu-Natal, province of South Africa. The dam was commissioned in 1981, has a capacity of 36,700 cubic metres (1,300,000 cu ft), and a surface area of 207 hectares, the dam wall is 48 metres (157 ft) high. The main purpose of the dam assembly is to serve for the generation of hydro-electricity and its hazard potential has been ranked high (3).

Driekloof Dam Dam in Free State, South Africa

Driekloof Dam is a small section of the Sterkfontein Dam, Free State, South Africa. A section of the Sterkfontein Dam reservoir is isolated after the construction of Driekloof Dam, this small reservoir has a capacity of 35.6 million cubic metres (28,900 acre⋅ft)., together with the Kilburn Dam almost 500 metres (1,600 ft) lower, Driekloof forms part of Eskom's Drakensberg Pumped Storage Scheme and Tugela-Vaal Water Project, and provides for up to 27.6 gigawatt-hours (99 TJ) of electricity storage in the form of 275 million cubic metres of water. The water is pumped to Driekloof during times of low national power consumption and released back into Kilburn through four 250 megawatts (340,000 hp) turbine generators in times of high electricity demand.

Lower Vaal WMA, or Lower Vaal Water Management Area , includes the following major rivers: the Harts River, Molopo River and Vaal River, and covers the following Dams:

Bushmans River

The Bushman's River is an east to north-easterly flowing tributary of the Tugela River, in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. It rises in the Drakensberg Mountain range, with its upper catchment in the Giant's Castle Game Reserve, north of the Giant's Castle promontory. It feeds the Wagendrift Dam and then flows past the town of Estcourt to join the Tugela River near the town of Weenen.

Moggel Species of fish

Moggel is a freshwater African fish in genus Labeo. It occurs within the drainage basin of the Orange River. The species has been recorded in the [Vaal], Olifants River in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, introduced there by anglers.

Crocodile River (Limpopo) River in South Africa

The Crocodile River is a river in South Africa. After its confluence with the Marico River, both rivers form the Limpopo River.

Wilge River

The Wilge River is a tributary of the Vaal River in central South Africa. This river is important as part of the Tugela-Vaal Water Transfer Scheme where water is transferred from the Tugela River basin to the Vaal River basin.

The Mooi River is a river in North West Province, South Africa. It is a tributary of the Vaal River and belongs to the Upper Vaal Water Management Area.

References

  1. ↑ "Drought impact mitigation and prevention in the Limpopo River Basin". Natural Resources Management and Environment Department. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  2. ↑ "Thukela Water Project --> Background". Department of Water Affairs (South Africa) . Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  3. ↑ "FISH-SUNDAYS TRANSFER SCHEME". Department of Water Affairs (South Africa) . Retrieved 6 February 2010.
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