Owners of unregistered dams meeting the criteria for classification as a dam with a safety risk have another 30 days to undertake the dam registration process to ensure dam safety compliance.
This followed Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina’s approval of an extension from January 29 to February 28 to allow the owners of the dams with a safety risk to verify their dam’s parameters accordingly, 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 the 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 meet compliance 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,” said DWS head of specialist unit: 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, applications for classification and for updating of registration information. Some of the applications have since been turned back to the owners for correction.
The department has also received many requests from different stakeholders and organisations representing the farming community to extend the 60-day registration period. 