*Elgin, Grabouw, Vyeboom, Villiersdorp
For more information contact Johan Groe-
newald: [email protected]
How the water will be transferred
The Eskom Palmiet Pump Storage Scheme
consists of two dams i.e. the Rockview Dam
on the mountain side and one at the bottom
in the Palmiet River, the Kogelberg Dam. Over
weekends when electricity demand is lower,
water is pumped to the upper dam to enable
the system to generate electricity in the next
week during day time. Every day of the week
water is released down to the bottom dam,
generating electricity in the process and at
night some of the water is pumped back into
the Rockview Dam. Every day the level in the
upper dam is a bit lower, getting quite low by
Friday, which is why weekends are used to
replenish the upper dam’s levels.
The Groenland Water User Association
(GWUA) in the Overberg opens sluices to
relieve Capetonians thirst. Picture Hortgro
of water from their water system to one of the
major dams supplying Cape Town, the Upper
Steenbras Dam. The water is only earmarked
for urban use
According to Groenewald, producers in the re-
gion have been pro-active with drought-plan-
ning and used water-wise irrigation tech-
niques. “For example, producers apply better
scheduling programmes and make sure all
equipment is regularly checked for leaks. We
also regularly inform all water users about the
water scarcity. There is a clear shift among
water consumers and everyone realizes water
is a scarce natural resource. “
In an effort to develop the deciduous fruit
industry in the region, Elgin and Grabouw fruit
growers have over several years built dams
with private money. The water is managed in
a sustainable and responsible manner. The
GWUA does not provide water to the Vyeboom
and Villiersdorp area, because these farmers
get water from Theewaterskloof Dam. The two
water networks are not connected.
AgriKultuur |AgriCulture
As part of the Western Cape Water Supply Sys-
tem, 30 million m 3 of water is transferred from
the Palmiet River to the Upper Steenbras Dam
during the winter by making use of the pump
storage scheme. More water than is required
to fill the upper Rockview Dam is pumped
to allow the Rockview Dam to spill into the 3
km connecting canal between the Rockview
and Upper Steenbras dams. This is done to
augment the water supply to the Greater Cape
Town area.
The Groenland Water User Association has
now offered to pump more water than is
needed by the pump storage scheme itself to
the upper dam, for that dam to reach overflow
levels. The overflow will then run via a canal –
not long, only about two or three km – to the
important Steenbras Dam.
Depending on the available pump capacity, the
process of transferring 10 million m³ of water
will occur over a period of two to three weeks.
This volume of water is estimated to last the
City of Cape Town for about 20 days – if inhab-
itants were to keep to their combined daily
quota of 450 million litres, but that total is
unfortunately far from being reached current-
ly. According to city authorities, inhabitants’
daily water use hasn’t even come down to 500
million litres yet.
It won’t be the first time that water has been
transferred to the Steenbras Dam in this way;
the same was done during this past winter
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