Johannesburg – The Department of Water and Sanitation has welcomed the awarding of contracts that will kickstart phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP).
According to the department, the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) announced on Monday that the Polihali Dam and Polihali Transfer Tunnel construction contracts have been awarded and the work will start.
“This step is a key milestone in phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), signalling the start of the final lap of the water transfer infrastructure construction. The work on Polihali Dam is expected to commence in November, while the work on Polihali Transfer Tunnel is set to start in December 2022 and the project is expected to be commissioned in 2028. The Polihali Dam will be a concrete-faced rockfill dam, which will create a reservoir on the Senqu and Khubelu rivers,” said a department statement.
The department said additional infrastructure also includes a spillway, a compensation outlet structure, and a mini-hydropower station while the Polihali Transfer Tunnel will transfer water by gravity from the Polihali reservoir to the Katse reservoir, the centrepiece of the LHWP.
“From Katse, water will move through various places including the Ash River outfall outside Clarens in the Free State, on its way to Gauteng. The project will see an increase in the annual water supply rate, which will be a welcome addition to meeting South Africa’s rising water needs,” added the department.
Upon completion, Polihali Dam will add approximately 2 325 million cubic metres in storage capacity to the Lesotho Highlands Water Project phase 2, which will increase the project’s current annual supply rate capacity from 780 million cubic metres to 1.2 billion cubic metres.
Lesotho would also greatly benefit from the additional flow of water from Polihali, as it will simultaneously increase power generation in Lesotho.
Department spokesperson Sputnik Ratau said the awarding of contracts comes at the perfect time as the department continues the work towards ensuring adequate water infrastructure.
“The awarding of the contracts to start with phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project comes at an opportune time when the department is getting all its ducks in a row to ensure adequate infrastructure that will meet the current and future demand for water,” said Ratau.
He said the increasing population, coupled with rapid urbanization, continuing economic activity and the impact of climate change, put a strain on the water infrastructure, therefore the sooner they complete phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, the better.
“The contracts are estimated to generate approximately 5 000 job opportunities continuously for a period of three years, in both Lesotho and South Africa.To date the advanced infrastructure programme has generated more than 4 000 jobs,” he said.
The Star