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boards (discussed later) have a vital role to play - along with land owners -'in integrated
catchment planning and management.
10.16 Dams in NatallKwaZulu
Data on 46 important dams in NatallKwaZulu (as at 1986) are presented in Table J28.
The following section examines aspects of dam safety. The environmental impacts of
dams and associated works are then discussed.
10.16.1 Classification of dams for safety purposes*
Dams may be defined as being at risk on the basis of floods and earthquakes; subsidence
of the dam or the foundation; seepages or leaks, or defects in the dam wall including
deterioration of the concrete of the wall. Risk can also be due to sinkholes in the dam wall
or dam basin; the movement of material masses near the dam basin perimeter; damage to
slope protection; the unserviceability of spillways and outlet works (which may prevent
rapid drainage of the dam), and incidents of sabotage or vandalism. Anyone or more of
the above conditions which poses a threat to the safety of the dam, or which implies a risk
of loss of life or economic loss, will result in the dam being declared a dam with a safety
risk. Every dam with a safety risk must be registered with the Department of Water
Affairs and Forestry. The classification risk of such.a dam may be revised from time to
time. The owner of a dam with a safety risk, who proposes to alter or enlarge the dam,
must obtain prior approval from the Department. An owner intending to build a new dam
of a given size is likewise required to seek prior approval (and a classification rating) from
the Department.
*
Discussion based on Anonymous, 1986. Republic of South Africa Government Gazette No. 10366
of the 25th July 1986, Govemment Printer, Pretoria, 28 p. (Government Regulation Notice GN
R1560/B6, issued in terms of Section ge1S) of the Water Act No. 54 of 1955).