Owners of unregistered dams that meet the criteria for classification as a safety risk have until February 28 to register their dams.

This followed a 30-day extension from January 29 approved by Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina allowing owners of dams with a safety risk to verify their dam’s parameters and ensure compliance with safety standards, in line with the definition in the National Water Act.

On November 29, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) gazetted a notice outlining the requirement for dam owners to verify their registration status and update their details, or if not yet registered, submit the required forms to the DWS within 60 days.

The registration process aims to ensure that all dams with safety risks comply with standards to reduce potential harm to the public, property and the environment. It also aims to maintain an accurate database of dam ownership and safety compliance for effective regulation and risk management.

“The department considers a dam with a safety risk as a dam with a storage capacity exceeding 50 000 m3 of water, whether the water contains other substances or not, and having a vertical wall height of more than five metres, measured from the downstream base,” says DWS head of dam safety regulation Wally Ramokopa.

However, since the gazetted notice last year, the DWS received numerous enquiries regarding the call for private dam owners to register their dams, apply for classification and update registration information. Some of the applications have since been returned to owners for correction.

The department has also received many requests from stakeholders and organisations representing the farming community to extend the 60-days registration period.

Ramokopa encourages dam owners who are already registered to update their details and those who have not registered to submit their registration and classification forms.

The department will continue to roll out a multimedia campaign to raise awareness about the importance of dam registration to ensure that all dams with safety risks meet compliance standards to reduce potential harm to people, property, and the environment.

The campaign is also aimed at maintaining an accurate database of dam ownership and safety compliance for effective regulation and risk management.