|
Year(s) |
Event |
| |
|
1800s |
Korana people farm on Gariep (Orange) River banks; Europeans settlers build
irrigation scheme at Upington |
|
1820-1870 |
A large influx of settlers from around the world introduces 11 of the 12
invasive species that now cause the greatest problems in fynbos biome |
|
1872 |
First dam constructed in Gariep Basin |
|
1880 |
Gold discovered in Johannesburg; water demands rise throughout surrounding
Witwatersrand region |
|
1880s-1890s |
Botanists begin to note the spread of nonnative plants over mountain slopes
and losses of endemic species in fynbos vegetation, while foresters promote
mountain plantations of nonnative trees |
|
1895 |
All major Witwatersrand aquifers tapped; Johannesburg experiences water
shortages |
|
1903 |
Rand Water Board established |
|
1912 |
Passage of South Africa’s Irrigation and Conservation of Water Act
lays foundation for future water allocation, reserving surplus water for private
property owners and establishing irrigation boards |
|
1920s |
Controversy about effects of forest plantations on water supplies begins;
demand for commercial timber products will drive high rates of afforestation
with non-native hardwoods for next 60 yr |
|
1928 |
Department of Irrigation dismisses proposed Orange River Development
Project as too costly |
|
1937 |
Passage of the Weeds Act; poor enforcement due to lack of field staff and
resources |
|
1935 |
Salinity levels in Vaal Dam begin to increase due to increasing industrial
activities |
|
1943 |
Annual flow of Gariep River reaches 62-yr high of 25,472 × 10 m³ |
|
1948 |
Nationalist Party comes into power and begins enacting apartheid
legislation |
|
1949 |
Purification works built to clean or divert highly saline water in the Vaal
catchment |
|
1940s-1970s |
Hydrological studies show that plantations have a negative effect on
streamflow; efforts to control invasives are launched, but are uncoordinated,
erratic, and hampered by limited follow-up clearing |
|
1950s |
First survey of Basutoland (now Lesotho)’s water resources undertaken
to assess viability of water exportation to South Africa |
|
1956 |
South Africa passes Water Act no. 54 to accommodate needs of industrial
expansion |
|
1962-3 |
Political climate enables Orange River Development Project to win approval;
poor planning results in delays and a quadrupling of initial budget |
|
1965 |
Marked acceleration of Vaal Dam salinization |
|
1970s |
Blackfly (Simulium chutteri) acquires pest status along Vaal, Gariep, and
Great Fish Rivers after completion of Bloemhof, Gariep, Van der Kloof Dams, and
Orange-Fish Tunnel. |
|
1970 |
Mountain Catchment Act passed, giving responsibility for high-lying
catchments to Department of Forestry; alien plants are cleared from tens of
thousands of ha |
|
1971 |
Gariep Dam completed; storage capacity (5341 million cubic metres) equal to
roughly one-third of Gariep basin’s total runoff |
|
1971 |
Water Research Commission created to initiate and fund water management
research projects |
|
1975 |
Orange-Fish Tunnel begins delivering water from Gariep River to Eastern
Cape Province |
|
1978 |
Vanderkloof Dam completed, the highest (108m) in South Africa |
|
1986 |
Treaty signed to implement Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) after 8
yr of negotiations |
|
Late-1980s |
Mountain catchment management responsibility passed from Department of
Forestry to provinces; lack of funding hampers integrated invasive plant control
programs and plants re-invade cleared areas |
|
1992 |
Annual flow of Gariep River reaches 62-yr low of 818 × 10 m³ |
|
1995 |
DWAF minister Kader Asmal founds Working for Water Programme, which hires
7000 people and clears 33,000 ha in its first 8 mo |
|
1995 |
Katse Dam, the highest in Africa at 185 m, is completed in the
Lesotho’s Maloti Mountains |
|
1998 |
South Africa’s Water Act no. 36 declares adequate water a basic human
and environmental right |
|
1998 |
LHWP completed; first LHWP water is released |
|
2004 |
National Water Resources Strategy completed, paving the way for Water Act
implementation; first proposals to establish Catchment Management Agencies
completed |
|
2005 |
Olifants River stops flowing into lower reaches for first time in recorded
history, threatening biodiversity in downstream Kruger National Park |