Letaba River

The Letaba

Template: Infobox River / Obsolete

The Letaba ( Afrikaans: Letabarivier, also: Letaba, Lehlaba, Letaba River ) is a river in the Limpopo Province in South Africa. He is one of the major tributaries of the Lepelle and covers a catchment area of ​​13,670 km ².

The name Letaba means from the Sotho, Setswana, translated: sandy river.

River course

The Letaba finds its origin at the confluence of the Groot Letaba and Klein Letaba. The said now Letaba river directs his further course eastward through the Lowveld and flows at the level of the foothills of the Lebomboberge, close to the border with Mozambique, in the Lepelle ( who was called until 2005 Olifants River).

Topography / Geology

The topography of the Letaba is uneven. In the West, up to 2000 m high mountains, whereas in the East prevail low-lying levels. The western escarpment is considered the northern part of the Drakensberg and the mountain Ostausläufer of Soutpansbergs, to the eastward the Luvubu and Letaba Water Management Area joins in the Lowveld. This zone is deeply incised by the major tributary of the Letaba.

The geology of the region is diverse. It consists of sedimentary rocks in the north and metamorphic and igneous rocks in the south. High-quality coal deposits are found near Tshikondeni as well as in the northern part of the Kruger National Park. At the southeastern edge of the mineral- rich formations of the Bushveld Complex are affected. The river has a low water level regularly. In the area of the confluence of the Groot Letaba Letaba River in the now mentioned, the amount of water is estimated at an annual average of about 168 million cubic meters, of which the two dams of the Letaba be operated. In comparison, the Tzaneen Dam processes a flow amount of an average year 60 million m³.

Reason streams of Letaba are the Groot Letaba and Klein Letaba. Inflows are of Middle Letaba, the Nharhweni, the Ngwenyeni, the Nwanedzi, the Molototsi, the Nsama and Makhadzi.

Reservoirs / dams

In the catchment area of the basin of the Letaba there are several dams.

In Letaba themselves are the Ebenezer Dam and Tzaneen Dam. The Ebenezer Dam was built to be the high water requirements of domestic industry and household needs. It dams to over 70 million m³ of water. The Tzaneen Dam operated primarily along the Groot Letaba demand Valley. In addition to smaller businesses who rely on the water that gets from here the Murchison gold mine the necessary care. Letaba in the Kruger National Park are also of Engelhard Dam, which achieved a capacity of 157.57 million cubic meters of water quantity and thus is the second largest dam of the Letaba area, as well as the Black Heron Dam.

Also tributaries are dammed. In the Middle Letaba Dam is the Lorna Dawn; this copes with the highest water levels of the whole river basin, namely 184 million m³. Also in the middle Letaba, the Middle Letaba Dam stands with a capacity of 8.16 million m³. Moreover, during the Molototsi Modjaji the dam and in Nsama Hudson Ntsanwisi Dam. More dams are the Magoebaskloof Dam ( 4.99 million m³), the Vergelegen dam ( 0.3 million m³), the Rietspruit Dam, which merely regulated the local water supply Dap Naude Dam ( 2.04 million m³) and responsible for the care of areas of the West region Hans Merensky dam ( 1.26 million m³).

Climate

The annual temperature ranges from about 18 ° C in the mountainous areas to about 28 ° C in the northern and eastern areas. The highest temperatures are measured in January and the lowest in July.

Rainfall occur mostly on the summer ( January and February) and especially in the peak regions. The mean annual rainfall is 612 mm.

Agriculture

Intensive agriculture can be operated where ideal watering conditions exist. This is especially true for the northern regions of the catchment area of the Klein- Letaba at the height of the Middle Letaba Dam, and along the tributaries Letsitele Groot Letaba and the top of the Luvuvhu. Crops grown vegetables, including a large area tomatoes, citrus fruit and bananas, mangoes, avocados and nuts. For timber care - due to relatively high rainfall - planted for commercial purposes forests of the Drakensberg Escarpment and on the Soutpansberg.