Umfolozi River
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Umfolozi River Mfolozi |
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 The Mfolozi in the catchment area of the St. Lucia Estuary (center) |
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| Data | ||
| location |
 South Africa KwaZulu-Natal |
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| source | around the city of Vryheid | |
| muzzle | Across the St. Lucia Estuary into the Indian Ocean Coordinates: 28 ° 23 ′ 0 ″ S , 32 ° 25 ′ 30 ″ E, 28 ° 23 ′ 0 ″ S , 32 ° 25 ′ 30 ″ E |
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| Mouth height |
0 m
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| Catchment area | 11,068 km² | |
| Outflow A Eo : 11,068 km² at the mouth |
MNQ 10 years MQ 10 years Mq 10 years MHQ 10 years HHQ (during cyclone Domoina) |
27 m³ / s 86 m³ / s 7.8 l / (s km²) 221 m³ / s 16,000 m³ / s |
| Discharge at the Schwarzer Mfolozi estuary gauge |
MNQ 40 years MQ 40 years MHQ 40 years |
6 m³ / s 23 m³ / s 57 m³ / s |
| Discharge at the White Mfolozi estuary gauge |
MNQ 40 years MQ 40 years MHQ 40 years |
8 m³ / s 31 m³ / s 65 m³ / s |
| Right tributaries | Msunduzi | |
| Medium-sized cities | Vryheid | |
The Umfolozi River (often Mfolozi) is a river in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal .
course
The Mfolozi has two source rivers: the White and the Black Mfolozi. Both have their headwaters around the city of Vryheid .
The black Mfolozi is the northern of the two. It rises at an altitude of about 1500 meters, about 20 kilometers east of Vryheid. Its largest tributaries are the Insikwebesi, the Vuna and the Mona.
The white Mfolozi is the southern one. It rises at an altitude of about 1,600 meters a few kilometers northwest of the city of Vryheid, which is also located on it. Its most relevant tributary is the Mvunyana, also coming from the northwest.
The two rivers unite on the eastern border of the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park , about 50 kilometers before the mouth of the Mfolozi in the St. Lucia estuary , which shortly before receives the Msunduzi .
Hydrometry
The occasional tropical cyclone can cause extreme flood events. Cyclone Domoina in 1984 caused a peak discharge of 16,000 m³ / s, which is roughly three times as long as a hundred-year flood on Mfolozi.
The discharge of the source rivers of the Mfolozi was measured over a period of 40 years. The data near the mouth, which are shown here as a diagram, only last for 10 years, measured in m³ / s (values read from diagram).
The estuary
In contrast to most other estuaries, the estuary is not always open, which can lead to severe flooding in the event of heavy rain. Over the years the estuary has often changed in various ways. In addition to the fact that the mouth can be closed by a sandbar, the outflow from Lake St. Lucia and the Mfolozi do not always flow into the Indian Ocean via the same channel. The two mouths can also be next to each other.
Water management
So much water evaporates from Lake St. Lucia during droughts that water flows in from the Indian Ocean and the lake becomes saline. So a canal was dug from Mfolozi to Lake St. Lucia to alleviate this.