The Vaal River runs from the southern parts of Mpumalanga to the northern Free State. It is about 1,120 kilometres long and forms the border between the Mpumalanga and Free State provinces. The Vaal Dam is the main storage of the Vaal-Hartz Scheme, which includes thirteen weirs and dams, as well as several power stations along the river’s course. The river is also used extensively for irrigation; over 3.5 million tons of cargo are carried by a commercial barge on the Vaal Dam wall every year. There are several water conservation projects underway to ease this problem, including the Bloemhof Weir, which became operational in 2008.
The Vaal River is 1,120 kilometres long and forms the border between the Mpumalanga and Free State provinces. The name of the province that it flows through is Mpumalanga, which means “Place of Many Stones”.
The Vaal Dam is the main storage of the Vaal-Hartz Scheme, which includes thirteen weirs and dams, as well as several power stations along the river’s course. We completed the Vaal Dam in 1968 and its reservoir has a surface area of 2,200 km² (850 sq mi). The dam wall is 258 m high with a crest length of 1,010 m.
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