Rustenburg - The wall of Hazelmere Dam north of Durban is intact even after the dam spilled due to the persistent heavy downpours, the department of water and sanitation in KwaZulu-Natal said.
The director of the dam safety regulation unit in the department, Wally Ramokopa, said the dam reached 100 percent capacity and started spilling on Monday evening.
He said the department, together with its entity, Umgeni Water, have since released water from the dam to prevent the dam wall, which was still under construction from flooding.
"The outlet pipes at the Hazelmere Dam have been opened at maximum capacity in order to lower the water levels. We really would like to caution communities that water levels on the uMdloti River will rise sharply as a result of the opened valves and plead for their cooperation should the urgent need to implement the evacuation plan occur."
He said private dam owners should alert the emergency teams of communities residing downstream of the dams should the need arise.
"Our plea really is to communities situated upstream and downstream of the dam to be extra careful during this period. The evacuation plan is to safeguard the loss of life and nothing else. Of importance to us is to ensure that no one is impacted from the heavy rains and flooding."
The department of water and sanitation said three sluice gates at the Vaal Dam were opened on Tuesday, following a huge amount of inflows which was experienced due to the recent downpours.
“As of this morning (Tuesday), the inflows were at 1065.67 cubic meters per second.
"The Vaal Dam - which supplies most parts of Gauteng – as at this morning, stood at 110,5 percent while Bloemhof Dam was at 106,9 percent," spokesperson Sputnik Ratau said in a statement.
"Matters in KwaZulu-Natal are also at a critical level, with much-localised flooding being experienced. A decision has been reached for Umgeni Water to release water from the Hazelmere Dam, which is located to the north of Durban.
"The level in the dam has overnight reached beyond 65% and will be reduced to 53 percent. This is necessitated by the ongoing work to raise the dam wall. Therefore, the reduction to 53 percent or lower is a safety measure while the work is still continuing,“ Ratau said.
IOL