The Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme is one of the largest
irrigation scheme
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been develo ...
s in the world covering 369.50 square kilometres in the
Northern Cape Province
The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, ...
of
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 named after 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. ...
and the Harts River, the Vaal River being its major tributary.
Water from a
diversion weir in 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. ...
, near
Warrenton, flows through a 1,176 km long network of canals. This system provides irrigation water to a total of 39,820ha scheduled land, industrial water to six towns and other industrial water users. This farmland is divided into individual blocks which each have their own letter, or letter group for identification. The blocks are divided into streets which have numbers that count up from the first one out. The canals divide into all of the blocks and the streets. There are a total of 6 plots per street and each plot also has a number from one to six. To reference a specific plot, you take the plot number, follow it up with the block letter and then the street number. e.g. 3 G 13. Each plot feeds off of the canal into their own dams with their own hatch from the canal. The water then goes through pumps to be sprinkled across the farmland. The most popular method to do this is with pivots.
See also
*
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 ...
*
Windsorton
Windsorton is an agricultural town situated in the Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme on the banks of the Vaal River in the Northern Cape province of South Africa.
The village is located on the Vaal River, 55 km north of Kimberley, 35 km north ...
References
External links
Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme Study, South Africa
Northern Cape
Irrigation projects
Irrigation in South Africa
Vaal River
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