2012-02-22 22:26
Cape Town – Raising the height of the Clanwilliam Dam wall will provide an additional 10 000 000m³ of water a year for downstream farmers, according to Budget documents tabled by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Wednesday.
The dam is situated in the middle reaches of the Olifants River, near the Western Cape town of Clanwilliam.
The height of the dam wall is currently 43m and the nett storage capacity of is 122 000 000m³ a year.
The document does not state how much the wall will be raised.
“The project is in its design stage, pending approval of the final height of the dam wall, and is scheduled for completion by 2015,” according to the 2012 National Estimates of Expenditure.
Last year, Western Cape water affairs chief director Rashid Khan told Sapa that work on raising the dam wall by 13m would start this year.
It is estimated the project will cost about R2.2bn and create 2 500 permanent jobs in the province’s construction sector.
– SAPA
See original article:
Water boost for Cape farmers