Buchuberg: Built on the backs of men

Abstract

Water History The idea of constructing a dam and canal in the lower reaches of the Orange River to irrigate the narrow strip of alluvial soil which lies across the south bank of the river to the west of the Buchuberg range (so named for the Buchu plant – a medicinal herb – which grew wildly there) was considered as far back as 1872, shortly after the discovery of the first diamonds in the Northern Cape. The government owned a series of farms along the river front, which had been reserved for irrigation. The first definite scheme for the irrigation of any portion of these farms was prepared in 1895. In that year a survey was made and estimates were prepared for a canal 58 km long, to irrigate 2 800 acres (about 1 133 hectares), in four farms. It was to take off at a point on the Orange River, about eight kilometres above the Buchuberg Range, from above a masonry weir, about 4 m high. The scheme was discussed in the Cape Parliament by Cecil John Rhodes, John X Merriman and Jan Smuts.

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