The Katse Dam; the second largest dam in Africa is a concrete arch dam and a great sight-seeing destination on the Malibamat’so River in Lesotho. The dam takes its name after a local landowner who owned a lot of animals.
Katse Dam is 185 meters 607 ft high and 710 meters 2,329 ft long. It was completed in 1996. The reservoir was filled with water by 1997. There are reports of induced minor earthquakes and tremors that are caused by human activity that alters the stresses and strains on the Earth’s crust. Farmers too who lost land to the project have had trouble re-establishing new livelihoods.
By far, it is the most efficient storage dam in Africa due to its great depth and relatively small surface area which reduces evaporation and in addition receives abundant water from summer rains and winter snow. The dam was built by a consortium of Bouygues, Concor, Group 5, Hochtief, Impregilo, Kier Group and Sterling International.
There is little arable land in the mountains to replace all that was lost, and efforts to help them with new livelihoods have by no means been as successful as the engineering works.
Katse Dam is the tallest dam, not only in Lesotho but in the whole of Africa. The reservoir that built up behind it offers spectacular views with a fantastic mountainous backdrop. It’s a great destination for sightseeing tourists wishing to include some trekking in their holiday to Lesotho.
Organized walking and horse tours are available and sightseeing tourists can go camping near the Katse Dam. This sightseeing destination is great for photography and to take beautiful memories of Lesotho back home.
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