Hardap Dam is a dam close to Mariental in the

Hardap Region Hardap is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Mariental. Hardap contains the municipality of Mariental, the towns Rehoboth and Aranos, and the self-governed villages Gibeon, Gochas, Kalkrand, Stampriet and Maltahöhe. It is ...

of central

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. Created in 1963 while Namibia was under South African occupation, Hardap Dam is the largest dam in the country. The reservoir dams the Fish River and is home to numerous examples of

wildlife of Namibia The wildlife of Namibia is composed of its flora and fauna. Namibia's endangered species include wild dog, black rhino, oribi and puku. Endangered Species The puku antelope is limited to about 100 individuals along the Chobe River in B ...

Description

First envisaged in 1897, Hardap Dam is Namibia's largest dam with a capacity of and a surface area of . Construction began in 1960 and completed in 1963. Hardap Dam supplies Mariental and the surrounding settlements with potable water. Its location close to the city, however, also poses a danger of flooding it when

sluice Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...

s have to be opened fully due to good rains in the Fish River's

catchment area In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

. Reed grasses growing in the riverbed of Fish slow down the flow of water and further aggravate the danger of flooding. (Full information only in the print version) Before the dam was built, Mariental was flooded in 1923 and 1934. Floods after the commissioning of the dam occurred in 1972, 1974, 1976, 2000, and 2006. Since then, the dam's water level is kept at a maximum of 70% of its capacity to prevent both an overflow and an uncontrolled outflow through fully opened sluices.

Etymology

The name Hardap derives from the Nama word meaning "nipple" or "wart", which is how the surrounding area of low conical-shaped hills appeared to the early inhabitants. There are fishing spots at various points along the northern shore of the lake. Permits, and a map of permitted fishing areas, are available from the resort office, or from the magistrate's office in Mariental.

Flora and fauna

The area is home to the black rhino, gemsbok, Hartmann's zebra, kudu, ostrich, springbok and steenbok. There is also a large variety of bird species can be observed in and around the dam.

Great White Pelican The great white pelican (''Pelecanus onocrotalus'') also known as the eastern white pelican, rosy pelican or white pelican is a bird in the pelican family. It breeds from southeastern Europe through Asia and Africa, in swamps and shallow lakes. ...

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...

darter The darters, anhingas, or snakebirds are mainly tropical waterbirds in the family Anhingidae, which contains a single genus, ''Anhinga''. There are four living species, three of which are very common and widespread while the fourth is rarer and ...

and

spoonbill Spoonbills are a genus, ''Platalea'', of large, long-legged wading birds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name ''Platalea'' derives from Ancient Greek and means "broad", refe ...

can be seen on the lake itself, as well as

fish eagle A sea eagle or fish eagle (also called erne or ern, mostly in reference to the white-tailed eagle) is any of the birds of prey in the genus ''Haliaeetus'' in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. Taxonomy and evolution The genus ''Haliaeetus'' ...

and a small number of

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

. The vegetation in the area is classified as dwarf shrub

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

. The following trees occur: camel thorn, wild green-hair tree and buffalo thorn. HardapDamBirdView

Tourism

After a four-year period of renovation the dam's recreational sites have been reopened in 2016. Activities at the dam include swimming, fishing, and bird watching. There is a restaurant and a shop.

References

{{reflist Image:Steenbok Namibia.jpg Image:Procavia_capensis.jpg Image:Boscia foetida.jpg Image:Cercomela familiaris.jpg 1963 establishments in South West Africa Dams completed in 1963 Buildings and structures in Hardap Region Dams in Namibia