The Mokolo River is a major watercourse in

Limpopo Province Limpopo () is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a group of Tsonga settlers ...

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 ...

. This river collects much of the drainage of the

Waterberg Massif The Waterberg () is a mountainous massif of approximately in north Limpopo Province, South Africa. The average height of the mountain range is 600 m with a few peaks rising up to 2,000 m above sea level. Vaalwater town is located just north ...

and discharges it to the

Limpopo River The Limpopo River () rises in South Africa and flows generally eastward through Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a group of Tsonga settlers led by Hosi Rivombo who settled in the mou ...

. The river's catchment area comprises .

Course

The Mokolo River and its upper course tributaries rise in the southwestern part of the Waterberg, between 1200 and 1600 metres above mean sea level. The Mokolo proper originates about 1.5 km north of

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'', an upcoming film by Sally Potter * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' ( ...

at the confluence of the Sand River with the Grootspruit River in a flattish, open area with numerous

koppie An inselberg or monadnock ( ) is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa, a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, an ...

s. Shortly thereafter it flows northwards through a steep gorge emerging above the town of

Vaalwater Vaalwater is a small town situated on the Mokolo River in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Geography Location Nearby towns also include Hermanusdorings, Melkrivier, Palala and Naboomspruit. Geography left, 200px, Sandrivier ran ...

. As it heads northwards it threads through the northern Waterberg, an extensive rock formation that was shaped by hundreds of millions of years of river erosion to yield diverse bluffs and

buttes In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French word , meaning 'k ...

.C.Michael Hogan, Mark L. Cooke and Helen Murray, ''The Waterberg Biosphere'', Lumina Technologies, May 22, 2006.
Then the river flows through the relatively flat area of the

lowveld Veld ( or , Afrikaans and Dutch: ''veld'', field), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide-open, rural landscape in Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, ...

until it enters the Mokolo Dam. From there, it flows through another gorge before entering the Limpopo Plain, near the junction with the Rietspruit. From this point, the Mokolo River flows through flat sandy areas until it reaches the Limpopo's right bank.

Tributaries and dams

The most important tributaries of the Mokolo are: Sand River (whose uppermost section is named 'Little Nyl'), Klein Sand River, Sandspruit, Sondagsloop, Loubadspruit, Grootspruit, Sterkstroom, Brakspruit, Malmanies, Bulspruit, Rietspruit, Sandloop, Poer se Loop and the Tambotie River. The Mokolo Dam is the only large dam in the system.

Ecology

Approximately 87 percent of the river's water use is for

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. Some

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

rehabilitation in the upper Mokolo has been carried out and that effort has been deemed a success. The

Mokolo Dam Nature Reserve The Mokolo Dam Nature Reserve or Mokolo Dam Provincial Park is a protected area of bushveld in the Limpopo province, South Africa. It almost surrounds the Mokolo Dam on the Mokolo River. It is located 32 km south of Lephalale, just northeas ...

is located by the eastern and southern sides of the Mokolo Dam reservoir.Mokolo Dam Nature Reserve, Limpopo
/ref> The highest concentration of

hippopotamus The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Sahar ...

in the Limpopo River is found between the mouths of the Mokolo and the

Mogalakwena River The Mogalakwena River () is one of the main watercourses in Limpopo Province, South Africa. It is also a major tributary of the Limpopo River. Course file:Waterberg SPOT 1369.jpg, left, SPOT Satellite photograph of the northern Waterberg showing ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Mokolo Dam Nature Reserve, LimpopoWater Resource Quality Situation Assessment
Rivers of Limpopo Tributaries of the Limpopo River

Course

Tributaries and dams

Ecology

See also

References

External links