SA happy that taps didn't run dry during 7-month Lesotho Highlands Water Project shutdown
The 38-kilometre tunnel was closed in October last year to allow for essential maintenance both inside and outside the structure.
FILE: An aerial view of a dam from phase 1 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. Picture: http://www.lhda.org.ls/
CLARENS - The Department of Water and Sanitation Department has expressed satisfaction that South Africa did not experience any shortages during the seven-month shutdown of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) tunnel.
The 38-kilometre tunnel was closed in October last year to allow for essential maintenance both inside and outside the structure.
Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina is presiding over the tunnel’s official reopening today.
When the LHWP tunnel was dewatered in October last year, there were concerns that parts of South Africa would suffer severe water shortages.
Percy Sechemane CEO of the Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority - which operates the tunnel - says his teams ensured that dam levels remained sufficient during the maintenance period.
“The reason why we were confident that there won’t be any crisis in South Africa is because the Vaal River Integrates System [IVRS] is made up of 14 dams. Some are balancing dams and some are storage dams. So we had, as South Africa, pre-empted the risk that we needed to mitigate ensuring we pump enough water into those storage dams.”
The Lesotho Highlands Water tunnel feeds into the Vaal River integrated system, which in turn supplies to five provinces in South Africa.