The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) says the owner of the three dams that burst their banks in Riverlands this month could face jail time, Cape {town} Etc reports.
Also read: Riverlands residents evacuated after fourth dam incident
Three retention dams on Dassenberg Farm burst their banks earlier this month, flooding homes, destroying water infrastructure and halting electricity supply in parts of Riverlands, Chatsworth and Dassenberg outside Malmesbury.
On 17 August, a fourth dam burst, instantly turning into a flash flood. Riverlands residents had to be evacuated for a second time.
‘The evacuation was necessitated following work that the DWS was doing at the fourth dam,’ Swartland Municipality said in a statement.
‘Although the initial plan indicated to the municipality was to slowly release water from this dam to minimise the risk of possible flooding, the plan by the department failed.’
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Now, the DWS is investigating who owns the first three burst dams and what could have caused their walls to collapse.
‘The investigation would seek to establish what might have led to the failure of the three dams and ownership of the dams. Further actions, if any, will also form part of the recommendations,’ said DWS spokesperson Andile Tshona.
‘At this stage, the department is not able to confirm ownership until the preliminary investigation is complete.’
The council decided to declare the event a state of disaster on Thursday.
Municipality spokesperson Mart-Marie Haasbroek said the municipality was ‘eagerly awaiting’ the DWS’ report, adding that it will ‘hold all relevant departments responsible to play their part, as is their legal responsibility’.
According to Haasbroek, the dams are located on property that belongs to the national government.
Tshona told News24 that the owner of a dam that meets the requirement to be classified as a ‘dam with a safety risk’ – a dam with a vertical wall height above five metres and capable of storing at least 50 million litres of water – must appoint an expert in dam engineering to conduct safety evaluations once every five years.
‘This report must be submitted to the department’s dam safety office, and the owner must implement the recommendations stemming from this report to ensure the safety of the dam. Failure by the owner to implement the recommendation to make the dam safe might result in action being taken against the owner of the dam.’
In addition to compliance certificates, the dam owner must also conduct maintenance, and the DWS should be notified of any major alterations ‘so that the department can satisfy itself that the work will be carried out by a registered engineer with knowledge and experience in dam engineering’.
If a dam owner fails to comply, the DWS can take administrative, civil and criminal actions against them under the National Water Act.
‘The department’s Blue Scorpions has previously won several cases in various courts against those who transgress the legislative requirements relating to the safety of dams. Dam owners could face imprisonment as well as punitive fines.’
‘Right now, it is premature to pre-empt the findings and recommendations,’ Tshona added.
The provincial government is assessing the impact of the removal of the dams on the environment and residents.
‘As long as anyone can remember, there have been dams there. We don’t know the future impacts of a heavy downpour. There is not likely to be another flood, but there could be an impact,’ said Wouter Kriel, spokesperson for Western Cape Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell.
‘The municipality will have to consider how this impacts the design of the town.’
Also read:
Relief and rescue efforts continue in Riverlands after dam wall breaks
Picture: Goedgedacht Trust / Facebook