Question NW218 to the Minister of Water and Sanitation
23 April 2018 - NW218
Khawula, Ms MS to ask the Minister of Water and Sanitation
What is the (a) total number of dams in the country, (b) exact location of each dam, (c) capacity of each dam, (d) date on which each dam became operational, (e) current level of each dam and (f) name of the owner of each dam?
Reply:
THE MINISTER OF WATER AND SANITATION
(a) Table below gives a breakdown summary of total number of dams in the country as well as ownership status as per dam register published on 31 December 2017.
Ownership sector |
Total number of registered dams |
State |
854 |
Department of Water & Sanitation |
322 |
Municipalities |
333 |
Other state departments |
76 |
Water Boards |
123 |
Private sector |
4 657 |
Mines, industries, business |
335 |
Agriculture |
4 322 |
Total |
5 511 |
(b) Dam location per Province is given in the table below. A detailed location of each dam is supplemented in Columns G to O of the dam register, submitted as Annexure A.
Province |
Total number of registered dams |
North West |
92 |
Gauteng |
187 |
Limpopo |
458 |
Kwazulu-Natal |
1090 |
Eastern Cape |
789 |
Western Cape |
1572 |
Northern Cape |
130 |
Mpumalanga |
675 |
Free State |
518 |
Total |
5 511 |
(c) The table below gives a cumulative summary of dam capacities per ownership sector. From the table it can be seen that state dams store 94% of all available water resources in the country, whereas private sector store the remaining 6%.
Ownership sector |
Total capacity in (m3 x 109) |
% total capacity |
State |
31.35 |
94 |
Department of Water & Sanitation |
29.35 |
88.0 |
Municipalities |
1.0 |
3.0 |
Other state departments |
0.2 |
0.6 |
Water Boards |
0.8 |
2.4 |
Private sector |
2.06 |
6.0 |
Mines, industries, business |
0.5 |
1.5 |
Agriculture |
1.56 |
4.5 |
Total |
33.41 |
100 |
(d) Dam register is submitted as an Annexure A of this reply, for all practical purpose, the date in which the dam became operational is taken as the date of completion which is given in Column R of the dam register.
(e) Dam levels are submitted as Annexure B of the reply. It should be noted that only dam levels owned by my Department are submitted. My Department is unfortunately not in a position to furnish levels of privately owned dams.
(f) Owner's details are given in Column AD of the register