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Here in Lesotho this water is known as white gold, and it plays an important role in the country's economy.
The engineering marvel that lies at the heart of this place is incongruous in the country's highlands – nestled among the herders wearing traditional Basotho blankets and mud huts that make up this rural area.
The Katse Dam is a truly impressive piece of design. At 185 metres (600 feet) high, it is the second largest curved dam in Africa.
Completed in 1996, it forms part of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, which was the result of an agreement signed between the governments of Lesotho and apartheid-era South Africa a decade earlier.
The country may be completely surrounded by its larger neighbour, but it has something parts of South Africa lack – a regular supply of water.
Because of its unique geographical location – Lesotho is the only country in the world that lies entirely above 1,000 metres above sea level – the country receives a relatively high amount of rainfall.
This is where Katsi comes in.
Water is pumped from the dam into a series of tunnels that eventually transport it to the Vaal River system in South Africa. It is the largest water transfer scheme in Africa.
The government says Lesotho is receiving $200m (£154m) a year from South Africa for water – more than double what the country was getting after the deal was renegotiated earlier this year.
Yet despite its water wealth, Lesotho remains economically poor. Nowhere is this more evident than in the village of Ha Ramokoatsi.
Although it is only one kilometre from the dam, its 200 residents still rely on a small natural spring, hidden inside a small cave on the hillside, for their water.
At 10am on the day the BBC visits, there is a long line of women carrying empty paint buckets to carry water home.
Some of them had been here since 03:00. In the queue we met Mantebuhling Mosiwa, 50, who had arrived five hours earlier.
“The water situation here is terrible,” she says, clearly angry.
“Sometimes, when it rains, a dead dog can wash into the spring. We have to get it out because we need the water, even if it is polluted.”
She adds that the water consumption has had health consequences, showing us an itchy rash on her wrist, which health workers say is a result of drinking dirty water.
“We get sick regularly, even the little kids. They drink this water and have stomach upsets and pain.
“Sometimes when you go into the water you see little worms, but we still drink the water, because there's no way we can survive without it.”
As we spoke, the spring was drying up, meaning Ms. Musiwa was left with no choice but to collect the remaining water from a stagnant pool filled with garbage.
Village officials say despite a series of promises from politicians — dating back to 2020 — to install running water, they have heard nothing.
Village chief Hlujing Khithisa shows me minutes written in a notebook from meetings held with the previous government.
“My message to this government is that they need to come here and see how we live. We cannot allow this beautiful dam to be built around our village and yet we still live in poverty.”
This is not a story you hear on tours organised by the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority, which runs the project.
Our guide is keen to tell tourists about the fact that Lesotho generates half of its electricity needs through hydroelectric power, and the roads that were built thanks to the money earned from the dam.
The Katse Dam was the first, and the second dam was opened in 2003. The third dam is scheduled to come on stream in 2028, with plans to build five dams in total.
Despite the growth, Natural Resources Minister Mohlome Moleko admitted the project was not always in the best interests of the communities living around it.
“We as Basotho people now have to refocus. Our main focus in the future is to provide water to the Basotho people, and then to transport the water.
“We are now looking to provide water to the local population by 2030. That is what we will look at,” he said, adding that he would “bet his life” that the project tender process would be completed by then.
Demand for Lesotho's natural resources is likely to grow.
Much of Lesotho's water is diverted to Gauteng province, the economic heart of South Africa and home to its largest city, Johannesburg.
It's the largest city in the world not built on a water source, and the City of Gold is getting thirstier.
Water levels in the city are increasingly falling due to a combination of crumbling infrastructure, population growth, and reservoirs that are emptying due to climate change.
“Lesotho’s water is very important because it contributes a significant portion of South Africa’s GDP,” says Professor Anya du Plessis, a water management expert at the University of South Africa.
“But the demand for water is not sustainable. Consumers are using huge amounts of water, more than 200 litres per day, but 46% of the water that goes through the system does not reach the consumer, due to neglect of the infrastructure. It is a man-made problem at this point in time.”
An agreement was also recently signed to transfer Lesotho water over 700 kilometres to Botswana.
None of the economic benefits of this would be of much comfort to the people of Ha Ramokwatsi.
Although she could see the Katse Dam from her window, Ms. Musiwa says it did not add anything positive to her life.
“This dam has given us nothing. We don’t know anything about the money Lesotho is getting. Nothing has been done for us. We are really suffering.”
More BBC stories about Lesotho:
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