Adrian Tregoning

The Ash River – mid week fun

The 21^st March, the day after my birthday, and also Human Right’s Day was an especially good one this year. Usually a Wednesday would mean sitting, staring with strained eyes at a computer screen but not this one. The freezing waters of the Ash would be a refreshing way to spend the day.

The Ash River

The Ash was a tiny little stream until the Lesotho Highlands Water Project began to feed water into it. This had resulted in a river that runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Water flows from Katse dam in Lesotho to the Muela hydropower station and down to the Muela tail-pond dam. From here it goes underground through a four and half meter diameter pipe for 37 km until it reaches the Ash River Outfall. The outfall is a concrete channel structure built on a gradient so as to slow the water down. This obviously reduces the energy of the river and the destruction it wreaks on the banks of this once tiny river. Several weirs have been built to reduce the energy even more. Luckily there is enough gradient to provide us with at least some excitement at a couple of places.