Proposed dam on Kaap River a double-edged sword for farmers’ future plans
Among other concerns, these farmers are uncertain about if and when their farms would have to be bought out and whether they would face water tariff increases.
Farmers who attended a landowners’ meeting at Cranko’s Creek in Low’s Creek on Thursday, November 28, voiced a sense of uncertainty about the future of their livelihoods.
This as a proposed new major dam on the Kaap River, aimed at relieving the regional water shortage throttling the Crocodile (East) River Catchment, was announced last week.
About 30 farmers attended the meeting, jointly hosted by Donovan Henning of Nemai Consulting and the Department of Water and Sanitation’s Kobus Bester, who is responsible for water resource development planning.
Henning and Bester delivered an informative presentation outlining the purpose and motivation for the proposed new Mountain View Dam. They also gave an informative project overview, and explained the environmental assessments and specialist studies to be undertaken, as well as the avenues for public participation.
The announcement comes as a double-edged sword. While farmers who are under almost constant water restrictions implemented to manage the over-allocated system are fully aware of the need for the system to be augmented, they also face uncertainty, as some farms will be covered in water when the dam is complete.
While the principle followed when building new dams is to firstly avoid impact, then reduce impact and as a last resort give compensation to affected communities, certain farms would inevitably have to be bought out.
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It seems like a simple enough solution. However, the devil is in the detail. Since the dam has not been given the green light yet, determining a timeline for when the different phases of the planning and construction might commence is at this stage near impossible.
While the construction phase can with reasonable certainty be estimated at four years, barring any unforeseen delays such as social unrest and natural disasters, the scoping and environmental impact assessment (EIA) phases (estimated to require another four years to complete before ground can be broken) could be delayed by any number of factors.
This presents a unique challenge to farmers whose planning is not just from year to year, but for the life cycle of their crop. Macadamia farmers, for example, have to plan about a decade in advance as these trees have a juvenile lifespan of about six years and reach maturity at about 10 years. Recovering input costs does not happen overnight.
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Another point raised was the cost of irrigation that will inevitably be imposed on farmers once the dam is operational. Infrastructure upgrades come with unavoidable costs to consumers. While indigent communities and emerging farmers are eligible for government subsidies, the rest would likely face affected profitability if water costs more.
Asked about the possible water tariff increase to farmers, Bester said it was too early to comment.
“The cost [capital expenditures and operational expenditures] must be determined and then a decision on the financial model must be made/negotiated before project cost or water tariffs can be determined,” he said.
He explained it boiled down to a choice between paying more for water or not having water, and added the ongoing water restrictions would lead to increased water tariffs either way, as has been the case in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
His advice to farmers was to continue with land use practices as normal, as one never knows what will happen when.
A decision on the project is expected by October 2025, upon which registered interested and affected parties would be notified a month later. Once approved, detailed designs will follow, which would enable authorities to provide more clarity to affected communities.
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