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The Orange-Senqu River

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Book cover Interest Groups, Water Politics and Governance

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science ((BRIEFSENVIRONMENTAL))

Abstract

In this chapter, I outline the biophysical characteristics of the Orange-Senqu River. I also investigate the importance of the river to the Lesotho and South African economies. A large part of the chapter is devoted to an analysis of the historical development of water resources management in the river basin. This is an important consideration, since the hydropolitical history of a river basin indicates which actors were or are dominant in the governance and politics of a river basin and water projects implemented to harness the rivers’ potential.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Before the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Iran was one of the potential financiers of the LHWP and one of the South Africa’s largest trading partners (African Research Bulletin, 15 July–14 August 1977).

  2. 2.

    Due to its military support to the Angolan government against South Africa, Cuba was considered an enemy by South Africa (Barber and Barratt 1990; Meissner 2004).

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  1. Centre for Water Resources Research, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private bag X01, Scottsville, 3209, South Africa

    Richard Meissner

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Meissner, R. (2015). The Orange-Senqu River. In: Interest Groups, Water Politics and Governance. SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21130-5_3

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