Maintenance on the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) tunnel is expected to be completed by the end of April, after experiencing some delays.
The critical tunnel, which transfers water from Lesotho to South Africa’s Vaal dam, was closed on October 1 for maintenance, with expectations that water would be flowing again on March 31.
On March 13, the Department of Water and Sanitation said that the reopening of the Lesotho Highlands tunnel has been delayed by three weeks, amid ever-changing weather patterns and the technical challenges experienced by the implementing agent on the Lesotho side of the tunnel, the Lesotho Highlands Development Agency (LHDA).
In South Africa, the maintenance work carried out by the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) on the South African side has been completed.
On Monday, TCTA CEO Percy Sechemane said the authority had successfully completed its maintenance work on the Tunnel North and Ash River Outfall on the South African side, as planned.
“From the outset of this project, TCTA maintained steady progress despite numerous challenges that could have caused delays, such as elevated moisture levels in the tunnel.”
While work on the South African section has been completed on schedule, the LHDA requested an extension owing to earlier implementation challenges that led to delays, he explained.
“We commend their efforts to accelerate progress and minimise the impact of these delays on water delivery to South Africa.”
The full maintenance programme is expected to be completed by the end of April 2025.
“Although there will be a delay of a few weeks before water can resume flowing through the LHWP Tunnel, this is not expected to affect water availability in Gauteng negatively,” assured Sechemane. 