The South African Department of Water and Sanitation has announced the launch of the Tzaneen Dam rehabilitation project for March 2023. The dam, built in 2016, will see its capacity increased in response to water shortages in South Africa's Limpopo province.
In South Africa, the Tzaneen Dam rehabilitation project will be launched in March 2023. The information comes from the South African Department of Water and Sanitation, following the issuance of the permit to expand the capacity of the dam on 10 February 2023. The implementation of the water project in Limpopo Province is expected to take two years.
The project aims to raise the wall of the Tzaneen Dam by 3 m in order to increase the storage capacity of the dam built on the Greater Letaba River. The current height of the structure is 53m. The works will also involve the demolition of the existing spillway and the construction of a new labyrinth-type spillway.
The work will eventually increase the raw water storage capacity of the Tzaneen Dam from 157 million m3 to 195 million m3. Part of the resource will be used to supply farmers in the Mopani district, as well as for drinking water production in Limpopo. This province is one of the most drought-affected in South Africa.
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The Tzaneen rehabilitation project will be launched in conjunction with the re-commissioning of the Clanwilliam Dam, which started in 2018 in the Western Cape. The project will raise the concrete dam wall by 13 m to a height of 56 m. This will increase the water retention capacity of the dam from 121 to 191 million m3. This work will allow the dam to irrigate an additional 5,500 hectares of crops (fruit, vegetables and cereals) in the Western Cape.
Inès Magoum
