The Umgeni River or Mgeni River, is a river in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It rises in the "Dargle" in the KZN midlands, and its mouth is at Durban, some distance north of Durban's natural harbour. The name is taken to mean place of the Acacia trees in Zulu, though other meanings have been proposed.The river is approximately long with a catchment area of. The Howick Falls are some famous waterfalls on the Mngeni.TributariesA noteworthy tributary is the Msunduzi River, which joins it between Nagle and Inanda dams. Higher up its course the Msunduzi (or 'Dusi' for short) passes through the KwaZulu-Natal capital Pietermaritzburg. A famous downriver race, the Dusi Canoe Marathon takes place between the capital and Durban, attracting thousands of canoeists for the three-day event held in January every year.A smaller tributary close to its mouth is the 26km Palmiet River, which should not be confused with the Palmiet River in the Western Cape.DamsPresently the Umgeni is part of the Mvoti to Umzimkulu Water Management Area. There are four large dams in its catchment basin: Albert Falls Dam Inanda Dam Midmar Dam Nagle Dam
