Vaalharts Storage Weir is a dam in

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 was established in 1936. Vaalhartz Weir (alternative spelling) is located on the

Vaal River The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. ...

approximately 100 km downstream of

Bloemhof Dam Bloemhof Dam is a dam in South Africa. It was originally known as the Oppermansdrif Dam when under construction during the late 1960s. It is located at the confluence of the Vaal River and the Vet River, on the border between the provinces North W ...

and 13 km upstream of Warrenton. The main purpose of the dam is to divert water from the Vaal River (released from Bloemhof Dam) to the Olebogeng Mokoena Government Water Scheme as well as the Barkly Government Water Scheme. Water is also used for numerous small towns including

Vryburg Vryburg () is a large agricultural town with a population of 48,400 situated in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality of the North West Province (South Africa), North West Province of South Africa. It is the seat and the industrial ...

Hartswater Hartswater is an agricultural town on the N18 (South Africa), N18 national route some 23 km south of Taung and 36 km north of Warrenton, Northern Cape, Warrenton. The centre of the Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme, it became a municipality in ...

Jan Kempdorp Jan Kempdorp is an agricultural town situated in the centre of the Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated north of Kimberley, the provincial capital, and west of Christiana in North West prov ...

, Warrenton, Winsorton, Kipdam,

Barkly West Barkly West is a town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, situated on the north bank of the Vaal River west of Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley. Establishment and naming Barkly West was the site of the first major diamond rush, in 18 ...

and

Delportshoop Delportshoop is a town in Frances Baard District Municipality in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. It lies next to the Vaal River. The Harts River runs by closely. Early settlement It developed from a diamond-diggers’ camp. The publi ...

. The main construction of the weir was completed in 1938 and was part of the government initiatives to alleviate unemployment following the depression of the 1930s. In 1967, the weir was raised by 1.2m to its current height of 11m. It is a concrete barrage-type structure, 765m wide with numerous sluices. The sluices are of two types; some for the normal river releases and some for flood management purposes. The dam is designed to handle floods of up to 14200 m³/s. After the raising of the dam in 1967, it has a storage capacity of 45 million m³. It diverts water into a concrete lined canal on the right flank with a capacity of 40 m³/s. This canal supplies water to approximately 37000 ha of irrigation, most of which is located in the Vaalhartz and Barkly Government Water Schemes.

References

List of South African Dams
from the

Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (South Africa) The Department of Water and Sanitation is one of the departments of the South African government. It is responsible for the state of water and sanitation in South Africa. In May 2009, following the election of Jacob Zuma, the Department of W ...

Dams in South Africa Dams completed in 1936 {{SouthAfrica-dam-stub

See also

References