Editing Orange River (section)

===Orange River Project ===
The Orange River Project (ORP) was one of the largest and most imaginative projects of its kind in South Africa. It was constructed by [[Hendrik Verwoerd]]'s government at the height of the apartheid era. The ORP was built to exploit the waters of the Orange River—which, without the Vaal River, represents some 14.1% of the total runoff in South Africa—and in the process, to satisfy an increasing demand for water. The main objectives of the project were:
* to stabilise river flow,
* the generation and transmission of [[hydroelectric power]],
* to provide a reliable water supply for users in the Orange River basin, and
* to give a new lease on life to water-deficient areas in the [[Eastern Cape]], such as the [[Great Fish River|Great Fish]] and [[Sundays River]] valleys.

The [[Gariep Dam]] near [[Colesberg]] is the main storage structure within the Orange River. From here, the water is supplied in two directions, westward along the Orange River (via hydroelectric power generators) to the [[Vanderkloof Dam]] and southward through the [[Orange–Fish River Tunnel|Orange-Fish Tunnel]] to the Eastern Cape.

[[Image:GariepDam.jpg|left|thumb|The [[Gariep Dam]] on the Orange River is the largest dam in South Africa, and was a key part of the Orange River Project.]]

==== Hydroelectricity ====
[[Eskom]] operates hydroelectric power stations at both the Gariep Dam and the Vanderkloof Dam. The hydroelectric power station at the Vanderkloof Dam was the first power-generation station in South Africa situated entirely underground. The towns [[Oviston]] and [[Gariep Dam (town)|Oranjekrag]] were established to facilitate the construction and operation of the new infrastructure.
[[File:Scenery photo by Siloam Village Gariep.JPG|thumb|View over the eastern part of the dam, with the water intake at Oviston]]

==== Irrigation ====
[[Image:Orange River Wine Farm.jpg|thumb|A [[Northern Cape wine|vineyard]] on the Orange River]]
[[Image:Irrigation Project along the Orange River.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Various irrigation projects along the river]]

Irrigation in the vast area downstream of the Vanderkloof Dam, which has turned thousands of hectares of arid [[veld]] into highly productive agricultural land, was made possible by the construction of the Gariep and Vanderkloof Dams. Old established irrigation schemes such as those at [[Buchuberg]], [[Upington]], [[Kakamas]], and [[Vioolsdrif]] have also benefitted because regulation of the flow is now possible. On the Namibian side of the river, [[Aussenkehr]] produces grapes with the help of water from the Orange.

In recent years, the [[South African wine|wine-producing areas]] along the Orange River have grown in importance. Irrigation in the Eastern Cape has also received a tremendous boost, not only from the additional water being made available, but also owing to improvement in water quality. Without this improvement, the citrus farmers along the Lower Sundays River would almost certainly have continued to suffer losses of productivity.