Katse Dam: Lesotha Highlands Water Project
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KATSE DAM: LESOTHA HIGHLANDS WATER PROJECT Reginald W. Herschy Hydrology Consultant, Reading, UK
Description The Katse Dam is located in Lesotho in the Central Maluti Mountains in the Malibamatso River (Figure 1). The dam is of the concrete arch type with a height of 155 m. The
primary purpose of the dam is to supply water to the Republic of South Africa (RSA) and to generate hydropower (110 MW). The reservoir has a total storage of 1950 hm3 (Table 1). The dam was commissioned in 1998 as part of the Lesotho – RSA Highlands Water Project (Figure 2). The water is delivered by a series of tunnels by way of the Rivers Caledon, Ash, and Wilge and eventually into the Vaal River to RSA. The Mohale dam (height 153) and the Muela dam were also built under the Lesotho – RSA Highlands Water Agreement and commissioned in 2004.
Katse Dam: Lesotha Highlands Water Project, Figure 1 Katse dam (Jackie van Bosch RSA). L. Bengtsson, R.W. Herschy, R.W. Fairbridge (eds.), Encyclopedia of Lakes and Reservoirs, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4020-4410-6, # Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012
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KATSE DAM: LESOTHA HIGHLANDS WATER PROJECT
Katse Dam: Lesotha Highlands Water Project, Table 1 Main features of the highlands water project Main reservoirs
Katse
Catchment area (km2) Mean annual runoff (hm3) Total storage (hm3) Active storage (hm3) Supply level (masl) Operating level (masl) Type of dam Height (m) Crest length Volume of dam (hm3) Hydropower (MW)
1,866 622 1,950 1,519 2,035 1,989 Arch 180 710 2.2 110
a
Matsoku
2063 Diversion water
Mohale
Mashaia
945 315 958 720 2,075 2005 Embankment 140 564 8.5
7,978 1,615 3,430 2,430 1,887 1,835 Embankment 170 680 14.4
Future development
Katse Dam: Lesotha Highlands Water Project, Figure 2 Lesotho location of dams (After Tromp 2006).
Muela
5.9 3.9 MW 1,775 1,760 Arch 55 180 0.85 72
KINGAIRLOCH HYDROELECTRIC SCHEME
The system harnesses the water resources of the highlands of Lesotho to the mutual advantage of South Africa and Lesotho, the key benefit to the latter being the royalty income for the sale of water.
Bibliography Lesotho Highlands Development Authority. 1995. New Civil Engineer. Tromp, L., 2006. Lesotho Highlands: the Socio-Economics of Exporting Water, Vol. 159, Civil Engineering, www.ice.org.uk/h.
Cross-references Hydropower Large Dams and Environment Large Dams, Statistics and Critical Review
KINGAIRLOCH HYDROELECTRIC SCHEME Reginald W. Herschy Hydrology Consultant, Reading, UK
Introduction People have been harnessing water to perform work for thousands of years. The Greeks and Chinese used water wheels for grinding wheat into flour and for powering wood and textile water mills 2,000 years ago.
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However, the technology of using water to create electricity was first established successfully when in the mid 1770s the French engineer Bernard Forest de Belidor developed the vertical-axis turbine. Worldwide today the installed capacity of hydroelectric power stations is of the order of 750 GW (where G = 109) supplying some 3,000 TWh (where T = 1012). Hydroelectric
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