Rehabilitation of Tzaneen Dam in South Africa set to commence

Rehabilitation of Tzaneen Dam in South Africa set to commence soon. South African Department of Water and Sanitation revealed that works will begin next month. This follows issuance of the permit to expand the capacity of the dam.

Tzaneen Dam was built in 2016 and is currently 53m in height. Rehabilitations aims to augment the water supply in the Greater Letaba River Catchment of Limpopo province by raising the dam wall by 3m to increase the yield of the dam and address water shortages.

The works will also involve the demolition of the existing spillway and the construction of a new labyrinth-type spillway. The implementation of the water project in Limpopo Province is expected to take two years.

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Tzaneen Dam

The work upon completion will increase the raw water storage capacity of the Tzaneen Dam from 157 million m3 to 195 million m3. Part of the resource will be used to supply farmers in the Mopani district, as well as for drinking water production in Limpopo. This province is one of the most drought-affected in South Africa.

The Tzaneen rehabilitation project will be launched in conjunction with the re-commissioning of the Clanwilliam Dam, which started in 2018 in the Western Cape. The project will raise the concrete dam wall by 13 m to a height of 56 m. This will increase the water retention capacity of the dam from 121 to 191 million m3. This work will allow the dam to irrigate an additional 5,500 hectares of crops (fruit, vegetables and cereals) in the Western Cape.