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.

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] Name Area km2 Gross capacity x103m3 Nr. regions Major rivers Drains to Notes
A 1,284 9 Limpopo River Indian Ocean [B]
1,502 9 Olifants River Limpopo River
7,941 9 Vaal River Orange River [C][D]
11,105 8 Orange River (below Gariep Dam), Kraai River South Atlantic
128 4 Olifants River (above confluence with the Doring River), Groot River South Atlantic
6 South Atlantic
G 445 5 Berg River, Diep River, Eerste River, Verlorevlei River, Bot River, Klein River, Uilkraal River South Atlantic
1,024 9 Hex River, , Breede River (below Brandvlei Dam), Tributaries of the Sonderend River above theewaterskloof Dam Indian Ocean
J 200 4 Touws River, Gamka River, Olifants River, ,
K 183 9 Little Brak River, Great Brak River, , , Keurbooms River, Bloukrans River, , Storms River, , Groot River, Tsitsikamma River, , Kromme River, , Indian Ocean
L 219 9 Baviaanskloof River, Kouga River,
M 12 3 , , Van Stadens River Indian Ocean
N 227 4 Sundays River (below Darlington Dam, and above ), (below Skoenmakers Canal Outlet), Indian Ocean [D]
P 4 Bushmans River, Kowie River, Kariega River Indian Ocean
Q 131 9 Great Fish River, , Tarka River, , Indian Ocean [D]
R 211 5 Buffels River, , , , Nahoon River
S 610 7 White Kei River (above Xonxa Dam), (above Lubisi Dam), (above Klipplaat River confluence), Klipplaat River (above Waterdown Dam), (above Oxkraal Dam), , Thomas River, Tsomo River, , , (above Wriggleswade Dam), , (above Xilinxa Dam)
T 248 9 Slang River, , Mtata River (above Mtata Dam), Tsitsa River, , , , , Indian Ocean
U 806 8 Mgeni River, Mvoti River Indian Ocean
V 1,110 7 Tugela River, Mooi River, , Bushmans River Indian Ocean [B]
W 3,283 7 Umfolozi River, White Umfolozi River, Black Umfolozi River, Pongola River, Indian Ocean
X 1,049 4 Nkomati River , Crocodile River

See also[]

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.

External links[]

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