VRESAP (Vaal pipeline) - impact on river / yellowfish?

[troutmaster]

Anybody in the know about the impact this long running project will eventually have on the Vaaldam (level) and more importantly the flow out of Vaaldam?

VRESAP - Vaal River Eastern Sub-system Augmentation Project

http://www.sanea.org.za/MediaCentre/...9/April/01.asp

and also projects like these:

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/art...ect-2010-12-03

It seems that soon a LOT of water will be pumped out of Vaaldam; now this year is far from a drought and the level stays around 87%; normally the release is 10-15 cumecs.

Once these huge volumes of water (160 million cubic meters per year) start disappearing, what will happen?

Will the dam level be maintained much lower in future [can already see kms of dry land in front of all those developments everywhere] and will the outflow be almost zero [surely a min. flow must be maintained]?

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[redhumpy]

Uhm, I dont think you will get a worthwhile response on a fly fishing forum. How can we predict how it will be managed? We can only guess. It is like asking me when the e-toll system would be rolled out.
Just a thought

Mario Smit BSc Cum Laude BTech FpLit Ba ComAir.

[Flubber]

Uhm, I dont think you will get a worthwhile response on a fly fishing forum. How can we predict how it will be managed? We can only guess. It is like asking me when the e-toll system would be rolled out.
Just a thought

Mario Smit BSc Cum Laude BTech FpLit Ba ComAir.

I hear you plea, maybe Zuma has a section for that in his state of the nation address tonight... LOL

But seriously, on a conservation note, I think the more money is being sought after (developments and urban growth and expansion) the more nature will suffer... Maybe the oceans has a better chance? Don't think so... Best to do what we can for now... Make sure our fishing sites are clean after we have been there... Leave a clean environment for our kids...

Regards

[Stones]

Rand Water are the guys in charge of this pipeline. When I first saw this thing when we did that fish kill report behind the wall I thought; holy crap thats a big pipe!!

Scary thing is, if you visit the Rand Water site you will see the consumption demands they predict and measure. Not only this but these big mines that keep popping up all aver the place, consume huge amounts of water and then pump treated waste water back into our system.
I could go on and on but you get the idea.

Lets see if Reveck from Rand Water can give us a suitable answer on this.

Check out the scary stats below......

[Andre s]

This is interesting and i think relevant , i am sure there are people that frequent the forum that would be able to give us some info with regards to this project, maybe Reveck.?

Is the project in operation yet? When i first heard of the huge pipe i thought and was worried that it was going to be pumping into the dam, that could have been a problem wrt to the outflow of the dam, during wet periods.

Then i was thinking, as is there is a huge demand for local consumption how are they going to supply for and extra 160 million cubic meters per year?

Read this as well.
“The combined effect of these changes together with projected demand increase from domestic and industrial users, requires that additional bulk water resources be provided to augment the existing Eastern Vaal River sub-system in order to maintain this high level of assurance of supply.”

[Reveck Hariram]

Hello Guys

Vaal dam releases 15 cumecs most of the time for abstraction at Lethabo Weir. At this point Rand Water, Sasol and Eskom Lethabo extract this water. The water (15 cumecs) does not make it downstream to the barrage most of the time. This water is of very high assurance and i doubt DWA will ever reduce it unless for maintenance issues or lack of demand by the relevant users.

The water that flows out of the barrage is mainly from the tributaries (suikerbos, klip, leeuspruit, taaibos and riet spruit) unless the dam releases more than 15 cumecs. With the return flows from the waste water works in the barrage catchment, the vaal at the barrage has always been flowing. I heard an aquatic specialist say that the Vaal used to stop flowing completely at times.

In terms of water demand, there are a number of augmentation schemes in the Vaal Catchment such as the Tugela and Lesotho highlands schemes. In the next 10 years or so the 2nd phase of the lesotho scheme will kick in and will meet the demand. There are a number of other strategies and initiatives that will come into play to reduce the demand but i dont think i am knowledgeable on water resources and demand management to say too much.

[Stones]

Hello Guys

Vaal dam releases 15 cumecs most of the time for abstraction at Lethabo Weir. At this point Rand Water, Sasol and Eskom Lethabo extract this water. The water (15 cumecs) does not make it downstream to the barrage most of the time. This water is of very high assurance and i doubt DWA will ever reduce it unless for maintenance issues or lack of demand by the relevant users.

The water that flows out of the barrage is mainly from the tributaries (suikerbos, klip, leeuspruit, taaibos and riet spruit) unless the dam releases more than 15 cumecs. With the return flows from the waste water works in the barrage catchment, the vaal at the barrage has always been flowing. I heard an aquatic specialist say that the Vaal used to stop flowing completely at times.

In terms of water demand, there are a number of augmentation schemes in the Vaal Catchment such as the Tugela and Lesotho highlands schemes. In the next 10 years or so the 2nd phase of the lesotho scheme will kick in and will meet the demand. There are a number of other strategies and initiatives that will come into play to reduce the demand but i dont think i am knowledgeable on water resources and demand management to say too much.

Thanks Reveck for replying.......appreciated!

I know KZN arn't too happy about our Vaal system drawing most of their water from those schemes......but we will just have to wait and see what happens......