Caledon (river)

Caledon mohokare
An old map of Lesoto's, with the Caledon as the border river (above)
Data
location	South Africa Lesotho
River system	Orange
Drain over	Orange  → Atlantic
source	near the place Libono
Source height	about  2700  m
muzzle	at Bethulie in the Orange Coordinates: 30 ° 31 ′ 22 "  S , 26 ° 4 ′ 4"  E 30 ° 31 ′ 22 "  S , 26 ° 4 ′ 4"  E
Mouth height	1261  m
Height difference	about 1439 m
Bottom slope	about 3 ‰
length	480 km
Catchment area	15,266 km²
Discharge at gauge D2H022 A Eo : 12,952 km²	MNQ 1988-2009 MQ 1988-2009 Mq 1988-2009 MHQ 1988-2009	11 m³ / s 34 m³ / s 2.6 l / (s km²) 69 m³ / s
Reservoirs flowed through	Gariep Reservoir , Welbedacht Reservoir
Big cities	Maseru

The Caledon or Mohokare , as it is also called in Lesotho, is a right tributary of the Orange River in South Africa .

course

It flows preferentially in a south-westerly direction and forms the north-western border of Lesotho . It rises near the place Libono , almost at the northernmost point of Lesotho at an altitude of around 2700 m. There is a second, larger source river, which rises to the north and is called Little Caledon .

The capital of Lesotho, Maseru , is on the Caledon, as is the South African city of Ficksburg further north .

Dams

About 30 km southwest of Wepener , the Caledon is dammed by the Welbedacht reservoir . The Caledon flows into the Oranje at Bethulie and feeds the Gariep reservoir with it . The Caledon is rich in sediments , which leads to problems in the reservoirs, as they quickly lose their storage capacity.

Hydrometry

The flow rate of the Caledon was measured in m³ / s at a station shortly before the mouth, at around 85% of the catchment area (1988 to 2009, values ​​read from the diagram).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Caledon River ( English ) In: Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved January 16, 2009.
2. ^ ^{A b c} Water Resources Availability in the Caledon River Basin Past, Present and Future