The Department of Water and Sanitation has welcomed the awarding of major contracts for the construction of Phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP).

The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) announced on Monday that the Polihali Dam and Polihali Transfer Tunnel construction contracts have been awarded.

The contracts award is a key milestone in Phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, signalling the start of the final lap of the water transfer infrastructure construction.

The Polihali Dam will be a concrete-faced rockfill dam, which will create a reservoir on the Senqu and Khubelu rivers. The infrastructure also includes a spillway, a compensation outlet structure, and a mini-hydropower station.

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.

Department spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau, said 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.

“On completion, the Polihali Dam will add approximately 2 325 million cubic metres in storage capacity to the LHWP Phase II, which will increase the project’s current annual supply rate capacity from 780 to 1 270 million cubic metres,” Ratau said. 

Ratau said the additional flow of water from Polihali will simultaneously increase power generation within Lesotho, which is another step towards meeting the country’s electricity needs, reducing its dependence on imported power.

He said the awarding of contracts comes as the department continues 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 to meet the current and future demand for water.

“The increasing population, coupled with rapid urbanisation, continuing economic activity, and impact of climate change, put a strain on water infrastructure. Therefore, the sooner we complete Phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, the better.”

He said this will go a long way to mitigating water shortages and water security will be realised.

Thousands of job opportunities

Thousands of job opportunities will be created through the contract appointments.

“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.

Work on Polihali Dam is expected to commence in November, while work on the Polihali Transfer Tunnel is set to start in December 2022.

The project is expected to be commissioned in 2028.

Source: South African Government News Agency