The Klein Berg River (or Little Berg River; in

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

''Klein-Bergrivier'') is a major right-hand

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the Berg River in the

Western Cape 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 ...

province of

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

. The Klein Berg drains the

Tulbagh Tulbagh, named after Dutch Cape Colony Governor Ryk Tulbagh, is a town located in the "Land van Waveren" mountain basin (also known as the Tulbagh basin), in the Winelands of the Western Cape, South Africa. The basin is fringed on three side ...

basin through the Nuwekloof into the

Swartland The Swartland is a region of Western Cape Province that begins some north of Cape Town and consists of the area between the towns of Malmesbury in the south, Darling in the west, Piketberg in the north, Moorreesburg in the middle and the Riebee ...

, where it joins the Berg. The Tulbagh basin (also known as the ''Land van Waveren'') is bounded on the west by the Obiqua and

Waterval Waterval is a residential township in front of Elim Hospital, it is situated in the Hlanganani district of the former Tsonga homeland of Gazankulu, alongside the R578 road to Giyani in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Waterval includes , ...

mountains, on the north by the

Groot Winterhoek The Groot Winterhoek mountains are located in the Western Cape province of South Africa and are part of the Cape Fold Belt comprising a watershed area of 552,606 hectares. They rise to a maximum height of 2077 m just north of the town of Tulb ...

range, and on the east by the Witzenberg. To the south it is divided from the

Breede River Valley Breede River Valley is a region of Western Cape Province, South Africa known for being the largest fruit and wine producing valley in the Western Cape, as well as South Africa's leading race-horse breeding area. It is part of the Boland borderin ...

by a shallow watershed that passes through the town of Wolseley. The Klein Berg rises on the slopes of the Groot Winterhoek and drains the northern part of the basin, while its major tributary the Boontjies River rises from the Witzenberg and drains the southern part of the basin. These two streams converge at the eastern opening of the Nuwekloof, a narrow gorge through the Obiqua mountains. In the Nuwekloof the river is obstructed by a

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

which diverts water to Voëlvlei Dam. Exiting the kloof, the Klein Berg passes by the town of Gouda before entering the Berg River near Saron. The weir in the Nuwekloof Pass diverts up to of water per day, which in summer can amount to the entire flow of the river. The health of the river is also affected by urban wastewater discharge from Tulbagh and by agricultural runoff. The Nuwekloof

water gap A water gap is a gap that flowing water has carved through a mountain range or mountain ridge and that still carries water today. Such gaps that no longer carry water currents are called wind gaps. Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a prac ...

created by the Klein Berg River is the only low-lying route through the mountains to the east of Cape Town, and has long been used for transport. A wagon road was built through the kloof as early as the 1750s; today it forms part of the R46 regional route. The main railway line from Cape Town to the interior was constructed through the kloof in 1875.

References

{{Reflist Rivers of the Western Cape

See Also

References