The Groot River (English: "Large River") is a river in the

Western Cape Province The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It is part of the

Olifants/Doring River The Olifants River ( af, Olifantsrivier) is a river in the northwestern area of the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The upper and main catchment area of the Olifants river is around Ceres and the Cederberg mountains. The Clanwilliam and Bu ...

system. It is not to be confused with the Groot River of Eastern Cape or the Groot River of Southern Cape provinces.

Course

It is formed by the confluence of the Twee River and Lang River, flowing off the eastern slopes of the

Cederberg Mountains The Cederberg mountains are located near Clanwilliam, approximately 300 km north of Cape Town, South Africa at about . The mountain range is named after the endangered Clanwilliam cedar (''Widdringtonia wallichii''), which is a tree end ...

, south-east of

Citrusdal Citrusdal is a town of 5,000 people in the Olifants River Valley in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated at the base of the Cederberg mountains about north of Cape Town. Agriculture in the area is dominated by citrus fruit fa ...

. The river flows in an easterly direction through the Skurweberge Mountains where it joins the

Riet River The Riet River is a westward-flowing tributary of the Vaal River in central South Africa. In precolonial times the Riet was known as the Gama-!ab (or Gmaap), a name meaning 'muddy'. Its main tributary is the Modder River and after the confluence ...

that rises as the Winkelhaak River and Houdenbeks River north of

Ceres Ceres most commonly refers to: * Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid * Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture Ceres may also refer to: Places Brazil * Ceres, Goiás, Brazil * Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás ...

. Below this confluence, the Riet River is joined by the Brandkraals River and Matjies River, after which it flows into the

Doring River The Doring River ( af, Doringrivier) is a river in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. It is part of the Olifants/Doring River system. The name 'Doring' is also applied to a stretch of the Sout River, another Olifants tributary, midway th ...

Ecology

The

Clanwilliam Yellowfish The Clanwilliam yellowfish (''Labeobarbus seeberi'') is a ray-finned fish species in the family Cyprinidae. It has long been placed in ''Barbus'', the "wastebin genus" for barbs, by default; however, the species is increasingly being restored to ...

(''Labeobarbus capensis''), a local

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

classified as Vulnerable by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

, is still found in this river.

References

{{reflist

External links

The Influence of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Temperature on the Distribution, Habitat, Use and Recruitment of Threatened Cyprinids in a Western Cape River, South Africa
Rivers of the Western Cape

Course

Ecology

See also

References

External links