Association’s efforts to reduce loss of water in Lonehill Dam washed away

The Lonehill Residents Association together with the ward 94 Councillor working to keep the dam in good condition.

March 1, 2023

Success Mthombeni 2 minutes read

Environment manager at Lonehill Residents Association Nadeem Abrahams and Ward 94 councillor David Foley show the collapsed bridge at Lonehill Dam earlier this year.

The Lonehill Dam has had its fair share of troubles but the wall collapsing seems to be the most challenging, with fish in the dam dying out due to insufficient water.
Ward 94 councillor David Foley together with the Lonehill Residents Association (LRA) has been working tirelessly to make sure there is progress in fixing the wall before it completely collapsed.

ALSO READ: Pedestrian bridge collapses at Lonehill Dam following recent heavy rain

“Most of last year [2022], I had various onsite meetings and communication with the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) and the environmental team to try and address the situation of the potential Lonehill Dam collapsing,” said Foley.
“Towards the end of the year, the MMC of Community Development, at that point councillor [Ronald] Harris, arrived onsite for further inspections. Processes were followed to appoint a contractor but there were long delays, unfortunately, based on very detailed legislation around doing water maintenance.”

Temporary measures were put in place by the association to reduce the loss of water at the dam but the recent rainy weeks saw all their efforts washed away.

Foley explained, especially with the rainfall over the past four weeks, the association placed sands bags in the area where the wall would have been. However, the water broke through a couple of times ‘until a week ago when the dam was emptied based on the volume of water’. “There is no more fish in the dam but the birdlife is loving it at the moment,” said Foley.

Nadeem Abrahams, environment manager at the association, said JRA agreed to take responsibility for fixing the dam wall as the Lonehill Dam was fed by stormwater runoff from many roads in the area. He added contractors were formally appointed in November 2022 and there had been some progress as quotations have been requested for gabions to be placed where the water escapes as well as a concrete slab to be placed on top as per the contractor’s request.

There is no more fish in the dam but the birdlife is loving it at the moment, according to councillor David Foley.

Abrahams assured that the association’s team were rebuilding the dam wall to the best of their ability to maintain a minimal level of water for the wildlife. “We have managed to catch some fish to release further downstream, however, some of our attempts have put our staff at risk since the silt in the dam is over one metre deep in places. Our staff also need to be extremely careful around the dam wall area as there is a large possibility of further collapse.”

Water breaks through the sandbags installed by the residents association at the Lonehill Dam wall.

Operations manager for marketing and communications at JRA Bertha Peters-Scheepers said, “The Lonehill Dam is part of the catchment area for Lappies Dam. JRA has conducted the necessary site inspections, and the Lonehill Dam scope of works is currently being finalised. Designs will commence shortly and once the design process is completed the project will go out to construction tender.

Environment manager at Lonehill Residents Association Nadeem Abrahams cleans weeds from Lonehill Dam when the dam was still full of water.

The JRA is grateful for the cooperation from the LRA with temporary remedial works for which JRA obtained approval from Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.”