Lesotho Highlands Development Authority- Start
- Jan 22, 199890% CONFIDENCEfrom the source
Lesotho Delivers Its First Water to South Africa
- Katse Dam is a 185 m, 710 m long concrete double-curvature arch dam on the Malibamatso River in Lesotho, completed in 1996 with its reservoir filled by 1997[2]
- It is part of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), established by the 1986 Treaty between Lesotho and South Africa to supply water to Gauteng and generate hydro-electricity for Lesotho; the World Bank arranged the treaty[2][3]
- Water flows through a 45 km, 4 m diameter tunnel and by gravity to South Africa; delivery began on 22 January 1998, supplying about 30 m3/s[2]
- South Africa pays Lesotho $35 million a year plus a variable royalty, and the total project cost is put at US$8 billion[2]
- Phase I was completed in 2003 and inaugurated in 2004; Phase II is underway, with Polihali Dam at 44% in March 2026[3]
- Impacts include induced seismicity, displaced farmers and a corruption scandal with convictions[2]
References 380% CONFIDENCE
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]90%youtube.com/watch?v=0T_KCWIKSbMyoutube.com· Posted Sep 14, 2026· Starts Jan 22, 1998 ✓· 33% of score
Wikipedia[2] gives an exact date: "Water delivery officially began on 22 January 1998," after the Katse Dam was completed in 1996 and its reservoir filled by 1997.
- [2]80%Katse Dam — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org· Added Sep 14, 2026· 33% of score
Wikipedia states "Water delivery officially began on 22 January 1998," an exact match to the pin's stored date.
- [3]70%Lesotho Highlands Development Authoritylhda.org.ls· Added Sep 14, 2026· 33% of score
The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority's own site describes the project's dam-building purpose but, per the fetched content, does not specify the exact water-delivery start date, only that "Phase I... was completed in 2003 and inaugurated in 2004" - a weaker, more general corroboration than Wikipedia's[2] precise date.
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Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation
