Hartbeespoort Dam
| Hartbeespoort Dam | |
|---|---|
 The crest gates added in 1970 |
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| Official name | Hartbeespoort Dam |
| Location | North West Province, South Africa |
| Construction began | 1921[1] |
| Opening date | 1923[1] |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Height | 59 m[1] |
| Length | 101 m |
| Base width | 22 m |
| Impounds | Crocodile River |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Hartbeespoort Dam Reservoir |
| Capacity | 195 000 000 m3[1] |
| Catchment area | 4112 km2 [1] |
| Surface area | 2 062 Ha |
| Bridge | |
| Carries | Motor vehicle traffic |
| Width | Single lane |
| Toll | None |
 Hartbeespoort Dam
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Hartbeespoort Dam also known as Harties (officially[citation needed] the Hartbeespoort Dam Reservoir) is a dam situated in the North West Province of South Africa Coordinates: 25°44′51″S 27°52′1″E / 25.7475°S 27.86694°E. It lies in a valley to the south of the Magaliesberg mountain range and north of the Witwatersberg mountain range, about 35 kilometres west of Pretoria. The name of the dam means "pass of the hartbees" (a species of antelope) in Afrikaans. The dam was originally designed for irrigation which is currently its primary use.[2]
The town of Hartbeespoort is situated close to the dam wall and the villages of Kosmos, Melodie, Ifafi and Meerhof can be found alongside its banks. Hartbeespoort was previously known as Schoemansville, after General Hendrik Schoeman.[3]
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[edit] History
The dam was built on the farm Hartebeestpoort, once owned by the Boer General Hendrik Schoeman (1840–1901). The farm and adjacent land was acquired by the State, mainly through the facilitation of his son, Johan Schoeman (1887–1967), in about 1912. The dam was completed in 1923. Hartbeespoort Dam first overflowed the dam wall in March 1925.
The completion of the dam made the agricultural land north of the Magaliesberg much more valuable, especially land close to canals and the Krokodil River. As a result, various farms of the Bakwena people of the Tswana ethnic group who lived in the area for many generations were appropriated or lost by various means and white farmers were settled in their place.
[edit] Construction
The dam is 149.5 metres (163.5 yd) long and 59.4 metres (195 ft) high and is built across a gorge cutting through the Magaliesberg. The reservoir is fed by the waters of the Crocodile River and Magalies River and covers approximately 18.83 square kilometres (7.27 sq mi), with a mean depth of 9.6 metres (31 ft) and maximum depth of 45.1 metres (148 ft). It has a surface area of 20 square kilometres (7.7 sq mi), and its normal range of annual water level fluctuation is 0.8 metres (2.6 ft). The mixing type of the reservoir is monomictic.[4]
A tarmac road skirts the water's edge on the north side; along its route it passes through a 56.6 m long tunnel and also crosses the dam.
[edit] Use
Hartbeespoort Dam supplies irrigation water through a 544 kilometres (338 mi) long network of canals to 159.76 square kilometres (61.68 sq mi) of farmland on which tobacco, wheat, lucerne, fruit and flowers are produced.
Hartbeespoort has become a very popular holiday and weekend resort for the inhabitants of Johannesburg and Pretoria; it is the principal water recreation area of northern Gauteng and many types of water sports are practised on the dam. The Transvaal Yacht Club has been operating at the dam since its construction in 1923.[5]
NSRI Station 25, located at the dam, is one of only three National Sea Rescue Institute inland stations and provides a water rescue service at the dam.
[edit] Water quality
Hartbeespoort Dam has been renowned for its poor water quality since the mid twentieth century .[6] The Dam suffers severe eutrophication, resulting from high concentrations of phosphates and nitrates in the Crocodile River, the major inflow. The primary pollution sources are industrial and domestic effluent from Gauteng .[7] The extreme level of eutrophication is evident in the excessive growth of microscopic algae and cyanobacteria, and macrophytes such as water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) .[8] The South African Department of Water Affairs and Forestry launched the Harties metsi a me (English: Harties, My Water) programme to try to find solutions to the water quality problems.[9][10]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e "Hartbeespoort Dam Integrated Biological Remediation Program". Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. 2008-09-04. http://www.iwrm.co.za/resource%20doc/ihp_conference_2008/gwp%20dwaf%20wfgd/venter_saving.pdf. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
- ^ "SA's Water History - Taming the poort". Water Research Commission. 2008-06. http://www.ewisa.co.za/misc/DamNWHartebeespoort/Harties%20history%20WW%20May-June%2008.pdf. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
- ^ Carruthers, Vincent (1990). The Magaliesberg. Johannesburg: Southern Book Publishers. p. 333.
- ^ "Limnology of hartbeespoort dam". Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. 1985. http://researchspace.csir.co.za/dspace/handle/10204/2425. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
- ^ "History". Transvaal Yacht Club. http://www.tyc.co.za/history.html. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
- ^ Allanson BR, Gieskes JMTM. Investigations into the ecology of polluted inland waters in the Transvaal, Part II: An introduction to the limnology of Hartbeespoort Dam with special reference to the effect of industrial and domestic pollution. Hydrobiologia. 1961;18(1-2):77-94.
- ^ Harding WR, Thornton JA, Steyn G, Panuska J, Morrison IR. Hartbeespoort Dam Remediation Project (Phase 1) Action Plan Final Report (Volume II). North West Province DACE; 2004. Available from: http://www.dwa.gov.za/harties/
- ^ Van Ginkel CE, Silberbauer MJ. Temporal trends in total phosphorus, temperature, oxygen, chlorophyll _a_ and phytoplankton populations in Hartbeespoort Dam and Roodeplaat Dam, South Africa, between 1980 and 2000. African Journal of Aquatic Science 32. 2007;1:63-70.
- ^ "HARTBEESPOORT DAM REMEDIATION PROGRAMME". Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. http://www.dwa.gov.za/harties/. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
- ^ "Development of a Resource Management Plan (RMP) for Hartbeespoort Dam is nearing its final stages". South African Government Information. 2008-05-19. http://www.search.gov.za/info/previewDocument.jsp?dk=%2Fdata%2Fstatic%2Finfo%2Fspeeches%2F2008%2F08051912151003.htm%40Gov&q=%3Cphrase%3E+(issued+by%3A++department+of+water+affairs)+%3CAND%3E(+Category%3Cmatches%3Es+)&t=Water+Affairs+and+Forestry+on+Resource+Management+Plan+for+Hartbeespoort+Dam. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
[edit] External links
Media related to Hartbeespoort Dam at Wikimedia Commons
