Water Delivery
Water from the dam first travels through a 45 km, 4 m diameter tunnel, exiting at a hydroelectric station near Muela. The dam's high elevation allows a gravity flow delivery system to South Africa, in addition to hydroelectric power for Lesotho, and was a prime reason behind the choice of site.
Water delivery officially began on 22 January 1998. The dam currently supplies about 30 m³/s of water to South Africa, which pays Lesotho $35 million per year, plus a variable royalty based on calculated water usage benefits.
In recent years, water from the scheme has also been discharged into the Mohokare (Caledon) river to provide water to Maseru in times of critical shortages. The new dams have filled as anticipated and discharge of water from the dams into the downstream rivers continues in a scheme devised to preserve ecological balances. This discharged water flows to the Senqu (Orange) and while preserving the ecological status quo benefits only those communities along the rivers, and schemes to provide water supplies to displaced Highlands farmers have not been very successful.
The dam project has also been a source of widespread corruption, which is not uncommon with large dam projects. The Lesotho courts have taken the unusual step of prosecuting the large companies involved in the scandal in addition to the Lesotho bureaucrat who took the bribes. Thus far, there have been a number of convictions and at least one company debarred by the World Bank for its role in the scandal.
Read more about this topic: Katse Dam
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