The raising of the Hazelmere Dam wall in KwaZulu-Natal is progressing well and within schedule and is expected to be completed in June 2017, reports the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS).

The raising of the Hazelmere Dam wall is part of an intervention developed by the DWS after it commissioned a feasibility study which indicated the current yield’s insufficiency to meet the growing demands of supply in the North Coast region.

Hazelmere Dam, located on the Mdloti River, was constructed as a concrete gravity dam in 1975 to 1976. Its purpose was to supplement water supply to the rapidly increasing urban and industrial users at the time.

Hazelmere Dam in its raised state will be of great importance to the province as it forms the major water supply of the existing two systems in the area.

The project to raise the Hazelmere Dam wall includes the installation of gates on the dam’s spillway and the stabilisation of the wall. The dam will be increased by seven metres to raise capacity from 23.9 million m³ to 43.7 million m³.

The raising of the Hazelmere Dam will also increase water availability to the North Coast Region of KwaZulu-Natal by some 10 million m3 per annum.

The supply area of the dam extends from Kwa-Dukuza (Stanger) in the north, Groutville, Blythedale, Ballito and Verulam to the south.

The system’s water is mainly used for domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes, the latter mainly for the irrigation of sugar cane farming. The dam basin lies in a peri-rural area directly impacting the communities of Verulam and Tongaat.