Cape Town - The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has launched the upgraded Brandvlei Dam Feeder Canal project in Rawsonville.
The newly uplifted canal now allows an additional 33 million cubic litres of water to be stored and is expected to improve agricultural activity, create jobs and assist small-scale farmers.
The project, part of the Greater Brandvlei scheme, was unveiled and officially handed over to its beneficiaries, previously disadvantaged water users and existing commercial farmers in the Breede Valley region, by Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu.
It forms part of Mchunu’s priority projects for the Western Cape and consists of two state-owned off-channel dams, the Brandvlei Dam and Kwaggaaskloof Dam, riparian to the Breede River.
The project was completed in October 2022 and raised the wall of the feeder by 300mm over a 4km stretch, which enables 33 million cubic litres of additional water to be stored.
The newly uplifted canal will increase the water flow to the dam, contributing to an increase in irrigation activity which will in turn boost the agri-economy of that region.
The raising of this canal wall will augment the storage capacity to ensure sustainable water availability in the system. This water is then stored and released into the Breede River during the dry Western Cape summer months.
Agriculture MEC Ivan Meyer said the Western Cape Department of Agriculture has since 2015 worked hard at facilitating an interdepartmental process to speed up construction on the project.
Meyer said this water infrastructure was crucial in the context of climate change, as the Western Cape was expected to become hotter and drier, with more extreme flooding and droughts in the future.
“Dams, boreholes, water purification plants, wastewater plants and water pipe networks are our basic tools to face climate change,” Meyer said.
Mchunu said: “With winter rains approaching, it is the most appropriate time to hand over the canal. The additional 4 400 hectares of land that will benefit from this project will go a long way in unlocking further employment and business opportunities for the people of Breede Valley.”
At the launch, local government MEC Anton Bredell added that the R 21 million project was anticipated to accelerate and stimulate the agricultural economy of the region.
