Issued by: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
MOUNT PLEASANT DAM NEAR LADYSMITH CHANGES PURPOSE AND NAME
10 JANUARY 1996
After extensive environmental, economic and sedimentation investigations and a process of public involvement the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, Prof. Kader Asmal, MP, has renamed the Mount Pleasant Dam near Ladysmith the Qedusizi Dam - which means end of suffering, which is particularly true in the light of the flooding in the past - and has decided to convert the single-purpose flood attenuation Qedusizi Dam to a dual-purpose dam. The dual-purpose dam will have flood attenuation and water storage capabilities.
The Qedusizi Dam is situated on the Klip River upstream of Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal. The dam will be able to control approximately 95% of the Klip River catchment.
The dam is designed in such a way that it can be raised by eight metres at any time in the future while retaining its flood-handling capabilities. The White Paper (WP C - 90,1990) for the construction of the Qedusizi Dam as a flood attenuation dam with provision for storage at a later stage, was tabled in Parliament in 1990.
Professor Asmal indicated that he cannot give an undertaking at this stage that the raising of the Qedusizi Dam will be done immediately, but assured the inhabitants of Ladysmith that the decision to convert the single-purpose dam to a dual-purpose dam will not affect the completion of the flood attenuation dam by October 1997.
As a single-purpose dam, the Qedusizi Dam will be capable of controlling flood waters with a return period of up to, and including, a 100-year flood event. For this purpose the Qedusizi Dam is expected to be fully functional by October 1997 and to be completed by early 1998. By converting the dam it will be possible to supply water to the inhabitants of Ladysmith and surroundings via RDP projects.
A construction team from the Department of Water Affairs and forestry established themselves on site in April 1994, and actual construction commenced in October 1994. Both the construction work and the relocation of services associated with the construction are on schedule.
A public involvement programme, which involved public meetings, individual contact, working group meetings and media assessment, was conducted to enable interested and affected parties to provide their inputs.
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