Greyton’s leiwater (“led water”) is a network of open furrows that carries water by gravity from the Gobos River to the village’s gardens [MS]. It has served Greyton since the village was founded in 1854, and it still works [MS]. It is described as one of the last working heritage irrigation systems of its kind in South Africa [MS]. It is run today by volunteer water bailiffs and street wardens [MS].
What the letters in square brackets mean
Facts on this page are followed by a tag that shows where they come from.
- [IC] Independently Corroborated. Confirmed by at least two sources that do not depend on each other, or by an official record.
- [MS] Mission-Sourced. Comes from one community’s or organisation’s own sources. Much of Greyton’s written history comes from local histories and tourism sources that repeat each other, so they often share one origin.
- [TBV] To Be Verified. Seems likely, but nobody has confirmed it yet.
At a glance
| Source | The Gobos River, from the Riviersonderend mountains above the village [MS] |
| Since | 1854 [MS] |
| How it works | Gravity-fed open furrows along the streets; each plot with a water right has a set time to open its sluice gate [MS] |
| Run by | Volunteer water bailiffs and street wardens [MS] |
| Website | greytonleiwater.co.za, with schedules and water-use rules [MS] |
How it works
Water is taken from the Gobos River and led into open furrows that run along Greyton’s streets [MS]. It flows by gravity, following the contour of the land, so only plots lying below a furrow can receive it [IC]. Each plot with a leiwater right has a turn, called a beurt, at a set time in the schedule [IC]. When its turn comes, the owner opens a small sluice gate and floods the garden [MS].
Today the water alternates, week by week, between two zones fed from the Bo Lei Dam and the Mid Lei Dam [MS]. Water bailiffs keep the schedule, and street wardens report blockages and leaks [MS]. Residents help by keeping to their times and keeping the furrows on their plots clear [MS].
How it began
The leiwater was part of Greyton’s design from the start. Herbert Vigne laid the village out on the farm Weltevreden, and the surveyor J.G. Rietz drew a plan of long, narrow plots [IC]. Each plot had room for a house and a strip of land behind it for vegetables, fruit trees, and a few animals [IC]. Water from the mountain made those gardens possible [MS]. When the first plots were sold in 1854, they came with title deeds, water rights, and grazing rights on the commonage [IC]. Residents grew onions, pumpkins, apricots, and pears [MS].
Who dug the first furrows and dams, and how the water rights were written into the first title deeds, has not yet been found [TBV].
A Cape tradition
Greyton was one of several villages laid out in the Western Cape in the 1850s by dividing a farm into plots with water rights [IC]:
- Montagu, subdivided from 1851, gave each plot one hour of irrigation water in its title deed. Its furrows had been dug on the farm before the town existed [IC].
- Greyton, whose first plots were sold in 1854 [IC].
- Stanford, laid out in 1855, sold its plots “with reference to the availability of water” [IC].
In many towns these furrows have since stopped working [IC]. Prince Albert’s furrows have been declared a Provincial Heritage Site [IC]. Stanford’s have been nominated for the same protection [IC].
The valley’s first water furrow is older than Greyton. In 1738 Georg Schmidt and his Khoekhoe students dug a furrow to water their gardens at Baviaanskloof, now Genadendal [IC]. In 1797 the mission built a water mill [IC], and in 1899 the Moravian Church bought the mountain farm Langgezocht to protect Genadendal’s water sources [MS].
Water rights and the law
Under older Cape law, water rights could be attached to land, and written into title deeds [IC]. The National Water Act of 1998 changed this. It made the nation’s water a public trust held by the state, and water use now needs a licence or another authorisation under the Act [IC]. Water uses that were lawfully exercised in the two years before the Act came into force may continue as “existing lawful uses” until they are licensed [IC]. In Montagu, the old title-deed water rights were replaced by the Act [IC]. How the Act applies to Greyton’s leiwater rights has not yet been checked [TBV].
Why it matters
The leiwater is one of the things that began in this valley and still works [MS]. It keeps gardens green in a dry climate, and keeps alive a way of sharing water by turns that is older than the village [MS]. It depends on the health of the mountain catchment above Greyton, where invasive plants and fire affect how much water reaches the river [TBV]. See What Began Here and Greyton Conservation Society.
What is still open
- Who built the first furrows and dams, and when the Bo Lei Dam and Mid Lei Dam were built.
- How the water rights were written into Greyton’s first title deeds.
- How the National Water Act of 1998 affects the leiwater rights attached to Greyton’s plots.
- Whether plots in Heuwelkroon have leiwater rights, and what happened to the rights of families forced to sell their plots in the removals.
- How much water the leiwater uses, and how the flow of the Gobos River has changed.
Have your say
If you hold old title deeds, schedules, photographs, or memories of the leiwater, or help run it today, contact the moderators via How to Submit.
Related
- Valley History
- History of Greyton
- Greyton and the Planned Towns of the Cape
- What Began Here
- Land as Property
- J.G. Rietz
- Herbert Vigne
- Greyton Conservation Society
- National Water Act
References
- greyt.co.za. Get Involved and Village Info. The leiwater’s source, age, schedule, zones, and volunteers, drawing on Greyton Leiwater.
- Towerwater aan de Breede. The lure of leiwater (2017). How leiwater systems work: gravity, contour, turns, and bailiffs.
- Montagu Leiwater Users’ Association. History of the system. Montagu’s furrows, title-deed water rights from 1851, and the National Water Act.
- Heritage Western Cape. Stanford Leiwater nomination. Stanford’s plots sold with water rights, the rarity of working furrows, and Prince Albert.
- National Water Act 36 of 1998. SAFLII. Water as a public trust, licences, and existing lawful use (section 32).
- Theewaterskloof Municipality. Greyton. Long plots and leiwater channels.
- Greyton Today. History. The first residents, their gardens, and the leiwater.
- History of Greyton, and the sources listed there. The plan, the plots, and the first crops.