Water levels reduced at Hazelmere Dam, residents told to keep away
Umgeni Water has issued an urgent alert for people living downstream of Hazelmere Dam and near Umdloti River, north of Durban.
The utility is concerned over high water levels at the dam.
Spokesperson for Umgeni Water, Shami Harichunder says, "It's to alert people living downstream of the wall and living close to the Umdloti River. There's a danger if they go close to the river. The river will begin overflowing because of releases from the Hazelmere Dam and that could pose a risk to their own safety."
He adds that the Hazelmere Dam is filled to the brim following days of heavy rains last week.
"These have resulted in the dam now reaching close to 80%. The capacity of this dam has been expanded. The wall of the dam has been raised and the amount of water it can hold is almost twice of what it could originally hold," he says.
READ: KZN hit by heavy rain and flooding
Harichunder says a team of maintenance staff began slowly draining water from the dam last night. It is a controlled process that is set to continue over three days.
"We began the process of reducing the dam level by opening three valves and the water began exiting the dam in order to achieve the required percentage that we need. But it has to go somewhere and that somewhere is the Umdloti River. The dam cannot exceed a percentage of 55%. So, we are in excess of that already," says Harichunder.
While this happens, Harichunder has sent an urgent message to communities to please keep away from the Umdloti River and Hazelmere Dam's wall.
"Please be aware that we are releasing water from Hazelmere Dam and please try to stay away from the river because of risk to their personal safety. Along the path of this river are two pedestrian bridges: one at Cottonlands and the other at Mathandeni. We are urging people not to use these bridges because of the possibility of drowning," says Harichunder.
