Heritage Cases

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS, hereafter) is a state organ that exists to ensure equitable access to water for all South Africans as well as to protect, use, develop, conserve, manage and control water resources. In 2017, DWS undertook a feasibility study to assess five (5) potential dam sites for the Algoa Water Supply System (AWSS). The Lower Coerney site was eventually found to be most feasible and most viable for construction of the required balancing dam. Subsequently, GA Environment (Pty) Ltd was appointed by DWS, as independent Environmental Assessment Practitioners (EAP) to undertake the Scoping and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and the Water Use License Application (WULA) process for the proposed construction of the Lower Coerney Balancing Dam, as part of the AWSS. The objectives of the balancing dam are to: • Limit risks of shortfall in supply to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and the Lower Sundays River Government Water Scheme (LSRGWS); • Remove potential operating system constraints for sustainable delivery of bulk Orange River water supply to the LSRGWS and NMBM, for water requirements up to 2040; and • Limit operational risks to acceptable levels. The existing Scheepersvlakte Dam is a balancing facility for water supply to the Lower Sundays River Water User Association (LSRWUA) and the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBM) for emergency supply. The need for a new balancing dam on the Scheepersvlakte Farm is due to the inadequate water supply owing to the smaller capacity of the existing Scheepersvlakte Dam to provide water supply to NMBM, during an emergency situation. The main purpose of the proposed new balancing dam at the Coerney site is to eliminate the operational and balancing storage limitations imposed by the Scheepersvlakte Dam