The Hex River is a tributary of the

Breede River The Breede River (), also known as Breë River, is a river in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Travelling inland north from the city of Cape Town, the river runs in a west to east direction. The surrounding western mountains formed th ...

located in the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The most important settlements along the river are the small towns of De Doorns and Touws River.

Description

The headwaters of the Hex River are located on the southern slopes of the Bonteberg Mountains at about 1000 m altitude at the Hex Pass, which leads over to the Great

Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe Khoemana (also known as !Orakobab or Korana) word is a semidesert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is ...

. In this region, its watercourse is created by the confluence of several small mountain streams. The mountains here can be covered in snow in winter. Its broad valley is largely accompanied by mountain ranges. The Hex River flows into the Breede River not far from the city of

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

north of

Brandvlei Dam Brandvlei Dam is an earth-fill type dam on the Lower Brandvlei River in Western Cape, South Africa. It was completed in 1983 and the inlet is the Holsloot River. See also *List of reservoirs and dams in South Africa *List of rivers of South Afr ...

.Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF)
''State of Rivers Report: Rivers of the Breede Water Management Area 2011''
from ''www.dwaf.gov.za'' (PDF). Along with a few other valleys, the valley is one of the most water-rich regions in the Western Cape. These conditions are based on the numerous permanent mountain streams in the precipitation-rich

Hex River Mountains The Hex River Mountains () make up the second highest mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa and are located north-east of Cape Town. They form part of a large anticline in the Cape Fold Belt mountain system and form a nort ...

and Kwadouws Mountains. The delayed settlement by

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an immigrants despite favorable conditions for agriculture is due to the unfavorable geographical location.Traugott Molter: ''Wasserhaushalt und Bewässerungsfeldbau im Kapland''. Franz Steiner Verlag, Wiesbaden 1966, S. 144. The Hex River Valley has 5,200 acres of irrigated agricultural land, about 86 percent of which is used for growing

lemon The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

s. In addition, around 450 boreholes are used to extract

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

, with an average flow rate of 5 liters per second.G. Papini (Groundwater Consulting Services), Republic of South Africa – Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF)
''Breede River Basin Study. Groundwater Assessment''
Rivonia, Mai 2003, online auf www.dwaf.gov.za (englisch, PDF), PDF-Dokument S. 73. Important tributaries of the Hex River are the Amandels River and the Sanddrift River.

Culture and settlement history of the valley

The earliest European settlements have been here since the 18th century. By 1700,

Boer Boers ( ; ; ) are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled the Dutch ...

treks had already passed the valley in the direction of the Great Karoo. The valley was difficult from

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

and only accessible via detours. This required a further arc to the north, which led through the Tulbagh Basin and the Nuwekloof (Kl. Berg River), and from 1835 also over the

Bainskloof Pass Bainskloof Pass () is a mountain pass on the R301 regional road between Wellington and Ceres in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The 18-kilometer (11-mile) pass, opened in 1854, was constructed by road engineer Andrew Geddes Bain wit ...

. In 1944, after construction work, the road from Worcester to

Paarl Paarl (; ; derived from ''parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a city with 294,457 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the largest city in the Boland, Western Cape, Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni ...

and Cape Town could be driven over the Du Toitskloof Pass. The construction of the railway line to

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

provided the impetus for irrigation farming in the Hex River Valley. An extensive fruit-growing agriculture established itself here at an early stage, which later became known beyond its region. The further construction of traffic routes, especially roads, promoted the development of agriculture to a considerable extent.

Environmental issues

The extensive removal of bank vegetation and the modification of the natural course of the river and the canal courses through sandstone rubble mining have impaired the integrity of the lower Hex and Smalblaar river systems. Orchards and vineyards extend to the banks of the Dwars, Hex and Upper Breede rivers. Their construction has led to the penetration of foreign invasive vegetation and to erosion phenomena in the area of the river banks. To improve the situation, the restoration of retention areas, a sharp reduction in

bulldozer A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large tractor equipped with a metal #Blade, blade at the front for pushing material (soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock) during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous tracks, ...

activities to remodel the land surface are recommended, and improved land use management would be required in the entire catchment area of the Hex River.

Water reservoirs in the catchment area

The Hex River, like its water-rich tributary, the Amandels River, does not have its own reservoirs for water extraction. In the upper reaches of the Sanddrift River (Sanddriftskloof) there are two dams, the Lakenvallei Dam (10.230 million cubic meters) near

Ceres Ceres most commonly refers to: * Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid and first to be discovered * Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture Ceres may also refer to: Places Brazil * Ceres, Goiás, Brazil * Ceres Microregion ...

and the Roode Elsberg Dam (7.733 million cubic meters). Their storage capacity leads to very low water levels in the summer until the lower reaches dry up.Department of Water and Sanitation
''List of DWS Dams''
. auf ''www.dwa.gov.za'' (englisch).

References

{{reflist Rivers of the Western Cape