[1] The World Bank arranged a treaty between the governments of South Africa and Lesotho, allowing the project to proceed.

[7] Water from the dam first travels through a 45 kilometres (28 mi), 4 metres (13 ft) diameter tunnel, exiting at a hydroelectric station near Muela.

[8] The dam's high elevation allows a gravity flow water delivery system to South Africa, in addition to hydroelectric power for Lesotho, and was a prime reason behind the choice of site.

The intake tower is located approximately 18 kilometres (11 mi) north of Katse Dam and has been designed to accommodate 70 cubic metres per second (2,500 cu ft/s) which was the maximum transfer originally envisaged for full implementation of the LHWP.

Due to the position and design of the intake tower, there is a certain volume of water in the reservoir that cannot be accessed via the transfer tunnels.