TO guarantee water supply in the Umzimkhulu River system during the low flow months, Ugu municipality, in partnership with the national department of water and sanitation, has put aside R1.2-billion towards the construction of the Cwabeni off channel storage dam in Umzumbe.
This follows a national study by the department of water and sanitation, conducted in all district municipalities, which indicated that Ugu must prioritise building the storage dam in less than five years.
The construction of the dam is set to start in 2017 and be completed in 2020, to end water woes in the district.
The dam will also double the peak abstraction rate from 54 megalitres a day to 108 megalitres a day, in order to meet the growing demand for water in the district.
The infrastructure of this project consists of a 47 metre high rockfill dam on the Cwabeni stream, an abstraction weir on the Umzimkhulu River, to gauge flows for the operation of the scheme and a pump house next to the weir.
The Cwabeni dam will be a guaranteed source of supply for the lower portion of Umzumbe and the Umzimkhulu Regional Water Supply Scheme, which serves water to Port Shepstone and surrounding areas, as well as Hibberdene to Ramsgate, and inland.
“Currently, the municipality has no significant water storage, especially during the low flow months,” said Ugu spokesman Sipho Khuzwayo.
He added that the flow of the river was insufficient to meet the current system demands, which was why the municipality had initiated the development of such a storage dam.
The construction of the dam will also include an upgrade to St Helen’s Rock abstraction works.
This upgrade is aimed at improving the assurance of supply during low flow and drought periods, as well as to allow the monitoring of the low flows rates, and more.
