Geography & History Notes | KCSE, NECTA, ZIMSEC & GCSE

THE ORANGE RIVER PROJECT Is the largest multi-purpose river scheme in the whole of Africa found in South Africa and it has been a major basis for the countrys agricultural and industrial development. The scheme started in 1962 and by 1990 a greater part of it had been completed. Its cost has been put to over 900 million dollars. The scheme has several dams for example the Vaal dam, Hertz dam Hendrikverwolerd, Gariep, Vanderkloof, Torquay, Clan William, and Buchuburg. The orange river on which the scheme is located originates from the Drakensburg mountains in the east-flowing westwards through the republic of South Africa to the Atlantic coast. It also forms an international boundary between South Africa and Namibia. It has several tributaries for example Caledon, Vaal, Fish, and Hertz. The main objectives of the river scheme include: To control flooding during the rainy season. To encourage irrigation farming in the drier but fertile dams of the semi-arid regions of the central cape pr...

  River basin is the area drained by single river. River basin development is establishment of various programmes to tap various resources in the river basin. River basin development is conducted through river development  project which are multipurpose project aimed at meeting many goals such as flood control, water supply, irrigation schemes, settlement and so forth. Example of river basin development project are Volta river project in Ghana, Orange river project in South Africa, Rufiji river basin development in Tanzania and Tennessee valley project in USA. River basin development is advantageous to the people and economy of the country in the following ways: It help in control of floods to the place where they are established River basin development encourage the conservation of environment like control of soil erosion through  tree planting River basin development project are used as research centers for studying ecosystem and their importance to human being. River b...