Boskop Dam

Boskop Dam is an earth-fill type dam on the Mooi River, near Potchefstroom, North West Province, South Africa. It was constructed in 1959. The main purpose of the dam is for irrigation and domestic usage. Its hazard potential is ranked as high, due to poor maintenance and the development of sink holes. The Boskop Dam Nature Reserve has been established on 3 000 hectare around the dam's reservoir.

Game viewing and birdwatching are also popular attractions. The dam and its surroundings harbour a rich bird population of over 250 recorded species, and the reserve's wildlife includes black wildebeest, springbuck, red hartebeest, zebra and blesbok. Other animals that can be seen around the dam include Cape Clawless Otter, Honey Badger, Yellow and Slender Mongoose, Striped Polecat, Black backed Jackal, Cape and Bat-eared Fox, Brown Hyena, Warthog, African Wild Cat, Porcupine, Aardvark, Aardwolf, Cape Pangolin, Cape and Scrub Hare, Caracal, Nile and Rock Monitor Lizards and African Bullfrog.

According to the last fish mark-recapture study at Boskop the Orange river Mudfish (Labeo Capensis) & Moggel (Labeo Umbratus) made up 95% of the total fish population in the dam, Sharptooth Catfish (Clarias Gariepinus), Common Carp (Cyprinus Carpio), Small-mouthed Yellowfish (Labeobarbus Aeneus), Largemouth Bass (Micropterus Dolomieu) and Banded Tilapia (Tilapia Sparrmanii) were all recorded in that study which was done almost 50 years ago, since then the following discoveries were made - Southern Mouthbrooder (Pseudocrenilabrus philander), Three Spot Barb (Enteromius trimaculatus), Goldie Barb (Enteromius pallidus), Chubbyhead Barb (Enteromius anoplus), Straight-fin Barb (Enteromius paludinosus), Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides), Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), Rock Catfish (Austroglanis sclateri), Canary Kurper (Chetia flaviventris) and Western Mosquitofish (Gumbisa Affinis). There were reports of Largemouth Yellowfish (Labeobarbus kimberleyensis) in the Mooi River before the dam was built, as well as in the reservoir after the dam was built, but no known sightings of the fish have been recorded in the last 40 years in the upper and middle Mooi River or its tributar

Dam data from Wikidata (CC0) plus curated additions. Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).