DWS dam safety leader heads to at-risk Senteeko dam
The Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS’s) dam safety specialist unit head Wally Ramokopa is headed to the Senteeko dam, in the Die Kaap river catchment in Mpumalanga, to conduct a site assessment.
He joins the team of engineers and the appointed professional person in the ongoing assessment and monitoring of the Senteeko dam, which is at risk of failure owing to the impact of the recent heavy rains in the region.
An emergency safety assessment undertaken by the Dam Safety Office last week confirmed that the dam’s spillway structure had suffered severe and irreversible deterioration, including advanced erosion and undercutting leading to structural instability.
In response to an imminent failure of the dam, a temporary emergency spillway had been excavated to relieve pressure from the dam, and overnight into Sunday, the water level had dropped by 25 mm.
Emergency interventions currently in place, however, are temporary risk-reduction measures only and do not prevent full or partial failure of the dam structure.
Late on Friday, the DWS issued an urgent alert of the possible failure of the dam, instructing all persons residing or operating downstream of the dam to evacuate flood-prone areas immediately.
The DWS said that failure of the dam may occur without further warning, with an uncontrolled release of water likely, posing an immediate and serious threat to downstream communities, infrastructure and the environment.
The Senteeko dam, officially registered as My Own Dam with the DWS’s Dam Safety Office as a 26-m-high medium-sized dam with a storage capacity of 1.8-million cubic metres, is owned by Shamile Communal Property Association and is used for irrigation purposes.
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