The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) is a bi-national project between the Governments of Lesotho (GOL) and the Republic of South Africa (SOUTH AFRICA).  It has contributed immensely to the economic growth of Lesotho in the last two decades, and with new phases having been recently approved, will continue to do so for the next few decades.

 

In terms of the Treaty signed between the two governments, the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) is a Parastatal set up on the Lesotho side and charged with the implementation operations and maintenance of the project within Lesotho whereas on the SOUTH AFRICA side, the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) is mandated to do the same for that part of the project taking place on the SOUTH AFRICA territory.

 

The Lesotho Highlands Water Project is an ongoing water supply project with a hydropower component, developed in partnership between the governments of Lesotho and South Africa. It comprises a system of several large dams and tunnels throughout Lesotho and South Africa. In Lesotho, it involves the rivers Malibamatso, Matsoku, Senqunyane and Senqu. In South Africa, it involves the Vaal River. It is Africa's largest water transfer scheme.

The purpose of the project is to provide Lesotho with a source of income in exchange for the provision of water to the central Gauteng province where the majority of industrial and mining activity occurs in South Africa, as well as to generate hydroelectric power for Lesotho (currently almost 100% of Lesotho's requirements).

 

The potential benefits of the project were already identified in the 1950s by then British High Commissioner Sir Evelyn Baring, among others. After a complete feasibility study was conducted between August 1983 and August 1986 (German-British Lahmeyer MacDonald Consortium was appointed for this task), the project eventually began to realize.

 

The project has had an important impact on Lesotho's infrastructure, as hundreds of kilometers of engineered paved roads were built in order to improve access to the different construction sites, and, together with engineered unpaved 'feeder' roads around the dams, continue to provide much-improved communication for many villages in the mountainous interior. 

 

The new dams have filled as anticipated and discharge of water from the dams into the downstream rivers continues in a scheme devised to preserve ecological balances. This discharged water flows to the Senqu (Orange) and while preserving the ecological status quo benefits only those communities along the rivers. Today, the two most prominent, completed dams are the Katse Dam and the Mohale Dam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Katse Dam's information centre is situated strategically where one can get a good view of the Dam wall, the Dam itself and Katse Village in the distance. The Information centre is housed in the building depicted below.