DWS Moves Swiftly to Mitigate Risk at Senteeko Dam

Barberton: Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) Head of the Specialist Unit: Dam Safety, Wally Ramokopa, will today join a team of engineers and the Appointed Professional Person (APP) to continue the ongoing assessment and monitoring of Senteeko Dam. Senteeko Dam, officially registered as My Own Dam and commonly known as Senteeko Dam, is classified by the department's Dam Safety Office as a medium-sized dam. It is 26 metres high, with a storage capacity of 1.8 million cubic metres. The dam is owned by the Shamile Communal Property Association (CPA) and is primarily used for irrigation purposes. According to South African Government News Agency, the department has warned that the dam, located near Barberton in Mpumalanga, is at high risk of failure following recent heavy rainfall in the region. Department spokesperson Wisane Mavasa confirmed that an emergency safety assessment conducted by the Dam Safety Office found that the dam's spillway structure has sustained severe and irreversible damage. This inc ludes advanced erosion and undercutting, which have resulted in significant structural instability. Mavasa warned that failure of the dam is imminent and could occur without further warning. To mitigate the risk, an excavator was mobilised on Saturday morning to widen the emergency side-channel spillway in order to further lower the water level in the dam. "Excavations have been done and a side channel spillway has been created to release the water and reduce the pressure on the dam wall. Overnight, the water level had dropped by 25mm," Mavasa said in a statement on Sunday. The department has further reassured the public that in the event of dam failure, neither the Republic of Mozambique nor the Kingdom of Eswatini would be affected, as the distance from the dam's spillway to the nearest international border along the flood path exceeds 160 kilometres.