Buffalo River (Eastern Cape) on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Buffalo River is situated in the city of
The Buffalo River has its source in the seeps and sponges of the Amatola Mountains at an altitude of 1200 m. The river is 126 kilometres long and drains a catchment of 1287 square kilometres. From its source, the river descends through indigenous forest in a deeply incised channel, flanked by rock cliffs up to 120 metres high. The quality of these headwaters is good. After only seven kilometres, the river faces its first obstruction, the small Maden Dam, built in 1910 ( years old). Four kilometres downstream of Maden Dam, the much larger Rooikrantz Dam impounds about five million cubic metres. Rooikrantz Dam supplies water to
Is there a role for traditional governance systems in South Africa's new water management regime?
/ref>
Buffalo River Estuary
Amatola water
Rivers of the Eastern Cape East London, South Africa
East London
East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...
on the East Coast of South Africa. It is to the west of the Nahoon River. It is the only navigable river in South Africa. The town of East London was thus established around it.
Course
The Buffalo River has its source in the seeps and sponges of the Amatola Mountains at an altitude of 1200 m. The river is 126 kilometres long and drains a catchment of 1287 square kilometres. From its source, the river descends through indigenous forest in a deeply incised channel, flanked by rock cliffs up to 120 metres high. The quality of these headwaters is good. After only seven kilometres, the river faces its first obstruction, the small Maden Dam, built in 1910 ( years old). Four kilometres downstream of Maden Dam, the much larger Rooikrantz Dam impounds about five million cubic metres. Rooikrantz Dam supplies water to King William's Town
Qonce, formerly King William's Town, is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River (Eastern Cape), Buffalo River. The town is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London, South Africa, ...
and the surrounding areas. Twenty kilometres from its source, at an altitude of 450 metres above mean sea level, the Cwengcwe River and Izele River join the Buffalo from the northeast. From here the river runs through undulating plains.
Two major tributaries from the west that join the middle section of the Buffalo River are the Mgqakwebe River just upstream of King William's Town and the Ngqokweni River at Zwelitsha. The other important tributary is the Yellowwoods River, which flows from the north directly into Laing Dam. When full, Laing Dam covers 203 hectares and contains 20 million cubic metres of water. From Laing Dam, the Buffalo River flows eastwards for 40 kilometres to Bridle Drift Dam, the largest impoundment on the river, with a full supply volume of 101 million cubic metres. Small streams on the northern bank bring runoff directly into Bridle Drift Dam from Mdantsane
Mdantsane is a South African urban township situated 15 km away from East London and 37 km away from Qonce in the Eastern Cape. It is the second largest township in Eastern Cape and 17th largest in the Top 20 largest townships in So ...
, the second largest township in Eastern Cape province.
From Bridle Drift Dam, the Buffalo River flows through low altitude coastal forest for twenty kilometres and forms the northern border of the Umtiza Nature Reserve, before entering the Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
through the estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...
harbour of East London.
Ecology
Theendangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...
border barb lives in the waters of the Buffalo River.
There is also a small population of the endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...
Eastern Province rocky ''(Sandelia bainsii)'' in the Yellowwoods River, part of the Buffalo River basin.
Presently this river is part of the Mzimvubu to Keiskama Water Management Area./ref>
Tributaries
Include the Mgqakwebe River, Ngqokweni River and Yellowwoods River, this last river includes some waterfalls the largest being the Yellowwoods Falls, near Breidbach.See also
*List of rivers of South Africa
This is a list of rivers in South Africa.
It is quite common to find the Afrikaans word ''-rivier'' as part of the name. Another common suffix is "''-kamma''", from the Khoisan term for "river"
Meiring, Barbara"South African Toponymic Guidelin ...
* List of estuaries of South Africa
This is a list of estuaries in South Africa. The list is in order from East (border with Mozambique) to the West (border with Namibia).
The South African coastline stretches for some 3000 km from Kosi Bay near the Mozambique border in the ...
* Umtiza Nature Reserve
References
{{reflistExternal links
Buffalo River Estuary
Amatola water
Rivers of the Eastern Cape East London, South Africa