Government mulls building a dam in the Fish River

GOVERNMENT is considering building a dam in the Fish River about 40 kilometres west of Keetmanshoop, reviving an idea mulled by the German colonial government a century ago.

It would be the largest dam in Namibia, three times bigger than the Hardap Dam. The dam wall will be just north of Seeheim railway station in the vicinity of a farm called Neckartal. The proposed Neckartal Dam site is situated in the Fish River approximately 25 km north of Seeheim and will provide water for the irrigation of approximately 5 000 hectares of land to the north and south of the tarred road between Keetmanshoop and Seeheim. The proposed Neckartal Dam has a vast catchment area of 45 365 square kilometres with a calculated average annual run-off of 397 million cubic metres. The anticipated wall height is 66 metres with a wall crest length of 480 metres. The storage volume is expected to be 846 cubic metres and the full supply area may cover 39 square kilometres. A pipeline may possibly be built approximately 26 km downstream of the dam wall from the river to the irrigation area.The Ministry of Environment and Tourism has commissioned an environmental impact assessment (EIA), which kicks off at Keetmanshoop today.The Directorate of Rural Water Supply of the Agriculture Ministry is the project co-ordinator. Knight Pi̩sold Consulting is conducting the EIA.A public hearing on the project will be held today at Keetmanshoop Рat 09h00 in the youth hostel dining room. Another meeting will be held the same day at 14h00 at the Snyfontein School.Anyone wishing to be registered as an Interested or Affected Party can register at gleicher@knightpiesold.com and any comments, queries or suggestions regarding additional regulations, requirements or processes with regard to the project, can be sent to the same address.