Buffalo River (Eastern Cape)

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Buffalo River
Buffalo Riviera
Trains on the Buffalo River in East London (Image from Cape Colony's 1870 archive holdings)

Trains on the Buffalo River in East London (Image from Cape Colony's 1870 archive holdings )

Data
location South African province of Eastern Cape
River system Buffalo River
source on the southeast flank of Mount Kempt in the Isidenge Mountains
muzzle in East London in the Indian Ocean Coordinates: 33 ° 1 ′ 42 "  S , 27 ° 54 ′ 46"  E 33 ° 1 ′ 42 "  S , 27 ° 54 ′ 46"  E
Mouth height 0  m

length 133 km
Catchment area 1279 km²
Reservoirs flowed through Rooikransdam, Laing Dam, Bridle Drift Dam
Historic view of East London Harbor in the mouth of the Buffalo River

The Buffalo River ( English Buffalo River , African Buffalorivier) is a river in the South African province of Eastern Cape . It is about 133 kilometers long and has a catchment area of 1279 square kilometers. The Buffalo River rises on the southeast flank of Mount Kempt in the Isidenge Mountains, a branch of the Amathole Mountains . Its mouth is in the urban area of East London on the Indian Ocean .

course

In its headwaters, northwest of King William's Town , it is fed by several smaller watercourses. This region is one of the most densely wooded areas in the entire Eastern Cape Province and is called Pirie Forest . The springs are at an altitude of around 1200 meters above sea ​​level .

Four water dams in the catchment area serve to supply drinking water and industrial water for the region of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality . These are the Maden Dam and the Rooikransdam in its headwaters, the Laing Dam near Zwelitsha and the Bridle Drift Dam near Mdantsane . The water extraction and treatment is carried out by the state company Amatola Water , especially for the large settlements of King William's Town, Zwelitsha, Mdantsane and East London.

Important tributaries are the Cwengcwe (also known as the upper reaches), Mgqakwebe and the Yellowwoods River . There are also the Tshoxa , Ngqokweni and Tshabo tributaries .

Its lower course meanders as a striking valley cut in an undulating landscape west of the economically important port city of East London. Not far from her he touches the Fort Pato Nature Reserve . This forms part of the wooded area that extends on the south bank of its lower reaches to the city limits of East London.

Types of use in the catchment area

A large part of the catchment area of ​​the Buffalo River consists of forest areas and rarely used grassland . Their share is 59 percent. Around 12 percent is used as agricultural land by small farms and forestry. About 12 percent are populated areas, including some larger urban settlements. Around 17 percent of its catchment area is only slightly influenced by humans and consists of savanna-like grassland, scrubland with shrubs and a few trees that show clear traces of harmful soil erosion . The loss of vegetation causes mineral suspended matter from the soil to be washed into the water system, which leads to a significant clouding of the flowing water and a reduction in its water quality, and silts up the artificial water reservoirs with silt inputs , mainly clay minerals . In the catchment area of ​​the Buffalo River there are layers of sandstones , claystones of the Karoo supergroup and Cape supergroup and clay soils .

The water quality is good to very good from the source region to above the urban area of ​​King William's Town. From this city and through other commercial regions in the lower reaches, the water purity deteriorates.

The estuary is fortified with quay walls on both sides and serves as a commercial port for East London.

literature

  • 3226 King William's Town, 1: 250,000, topo-cadastral, Mowbray (Chief Director of Surveys and Mapping Privat Bag Mowbray) 1985

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Overview of the Amatole - Kei ISP Area. at www.dwaf.gov.za (PDF document p. 5-6; 5.4 MB) (English)
  2. ↑ (Fiona Cessford, Jacky Burke) Inland water report for South Africa, p. 22, status 2005 ( Memento of the original from October 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 704 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / soer.deat.gov.za

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