‘Like the roar of the ocean’

THE force of the Klein Windhoek River as it cascaded from the Avis Dam on Friday night sounded like the roar of the ocean, Avis resident Gert Keding said on Saturday.

Ripping up metres of the Avis Road, the river started to flow from the dam at 20h00 on Friday, when the first of sluice gates opened. “The sluices are automated and react on water pressure.When the dam reaches a certain level, the rise in pressure causes the sluice to open,” explained Rudi Vaessler, the City of Windhoek’s Disaster Management Co-ordinator.With the water level of the dam rising from 47 per cent at 18h00 to 104 per cent just two hours later, “the quick rise in pressure caused the first sluice to open up completely”, said Vaessler.”Once the water level subsided, the sluice closed again by itself.But because the inflow of water had not stopped, at around 10h30, the second sluice also opened”.Later that night both sluices were closed, but branches and silt caused some water to flow out throughout the night and during much of Saturday.Vaessler said the Municipality was pleased with the way the sluice-gate system had worked.The amount of water released into the Klein Windhoek river caused it to flow at an incredible pace.Even though some people questioned the need for the sluice gates when they were built in 2002, “the dam wall could have burst on Friday night” if the system had not been in place, said Vaessler.NamWater reports showed the Avis Dam to be nearly empty on Monday last week.Now, it is close to 100 per cent full.”The sluices are automated and react on water pressure. When the dam reaches a certain level, the rise in pressure causes the sluice to open,” explained Rudi Vaessler, the City of Windhoek’s Disaster Management Co-ordinator. With the water level of the dam rising from 47 per cent at 18h00 to 104 per cent just two hours later, “the quick rise in pressure caused the first sluice to open up completely”, said Vaessler. “Once the water level subsided, the sluice closed again by itself. But because the inflow of water had not stopped, at around 10h30, the second sluice also opened”. Later that night both sluices were closed, but branches and silt caused some water to flow out throughout the night and during much of Saturday. Vaessler said the Municipality was pleased with the way the sluice-gate system had worked. The amount of water released into the Klein Windhoek river caused it to flow at an incredible pace. Even though some people questioned the need for the sluice gates when they were built in 2002, “the dam wall could have burst on Friday night” if the system had not been in place, said Vaessler. NamWater reports showed the Avis Dam to be nearly empty on Monday last week. Now, it is close to 100 per cent full.