Size does matter (Part 6) – by Alheit du Toit

As we have covered previously, all water users are governed by the National Water Act 36 of 1998 (NWA) to ensure the sustainable management of all water resources in South Africa. The term “water use” refers to a specific water-related activity that is regulated by legislation. We as landowners have an obligation to ensure that we manage our water on our properties effectively and efficiently.

Now does your farms dam’s storage capacity matter? Does the size influence you as a producer? Well…Yes it does. Size does matter in this instance.

Not only does a larger dam mean more water but it has more implications regarding the requirements with the NWA.

Let’s start at the beginning of Section 21(b) of the National Water Act 36 of 1998 – Storing of water. This section of the act refers to the storing of significant volumes of clean water into a storage structure such as a dam or reservoir. To further understand how this affects you as a producer the revised general  for the taking and storing of water as published in Government Notice no. 538 in Government Gazette no. 40243, published on 2 September 2016 becomes important.

In this revised general authorisation, it states that any storage structures with a capacity to store more than 10 000 cubic meters of water, must be registered with the responsible authority. Now, the bigger we go the possibility of these storage structures becoming a hazard to the surrounding environment becomes more to both humans and the environment. How do we as producers determine this hazard? Well, we take into consideration the storage capacity and the dams wall height. A dam with a safety risk is determined initially in terms of dam wall height (greater than 5 meters) and volume (greater than 50 000 cubic meters). Dams which have been classified with a dam safety are required to carry out dam safety inspections at intervals of not more than five years.

Now to take the matter of size and capacity even further, these dams with a safety risk are further classified according to the Regulations in terms of size and hazard potential rating. The larger we go the bigger the concerns are regarding potential loss of life, economic loss and the potential adverse impact on resource quality.

Now what would you as the producer require for audit?

Initially proof of dam size and capacity would be required as this would be essential to determine if registration was required for these water storage areas. If the water storage capacity is more then 10 000 cubic meter, proof of registration by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) would be crucial. For dams with with a safety risk in terms of dam wall height (greater than 5 meters) and volume (greater than 50 000 cubic meters) proof of registered with the Dam Safety Office within the DWS, and dam inspections to be available.

What could you implement to make the search for these documents easier on the day of an audit?

I have experienced it numerous times that once you ask these questions producers do not know where their registration documents are or as I call them “vault documents” which are stored in a secure area, locked away as they are worth gold. To make it easier on the day of an audit I would develop a dam register with the following:

1. Amount of dams
2. Name of dams
3. Size of dams
4. Capacity
5. Reference number to registration
6. If required – Dam Safety Registration

Have you completed any of these steps yet? Do you need to register any water sources?

Feel free to contact myself (quality2@skyvines.co.za) or Francois Brink (Info@skyvines.co.za) so that we can assist you with any Water Use License Application (WULA) application.