"Aspoort?"
I can already hear you
thinking aloud,
"Aspoort - never
even heard of it!"
OK,
you're right! The Aspoort
Dam is yet to be built,
but could, in future,
become a home for Bass
(hopefully the Florida
strain!). Construction is
set to commence anytime
between 2005 and 2008,
but only time will tell
if these time-frames will
be adhered to.
Here
is some info which formed
part of a 1998 Sapa
report:
ASMAL
VIEWS PROPOSED SITE FOR
GIANT W.CAPE DAM
CAPE TOWN October 20 1998
Sapa
Water Affairs Minister
Kader Asmal on Tuesday
made a helicopter
reconnaissance of the
Western Cape’s Olifants
and Doring
river
basins to examine at
firsthand the site of
what could become the
province’s biggest
dam.
The department of water
affairs’ Western
Cape regional director
Rashid Khan told Sapa
that construction of the
new dam - at
Aspoort on
the Doring River - had
been proposed by Northern
Cape premier Manne
Dipico.
The Doring, which runs
along the eastern side of
the Cedarberg
Mountains, is one of
South Africa’s last
unspoilt rivers, and
several important
historical and
archaeological sites
occur along
it.
Khan said if a decision
was taken to go ahead,
the new dam could
hold between 230 and 430
million cubic metres. The
higher figure
would make the Aspoort
dam 30 million cubic
metres bigger than
Theewaterskloof dam near
Villiersdorp, currently
the largest body
of inland water in the
Western Cape.
Speaking at a meeting in
the West Coast town of
Mooreesburg after his
inspection flight, Asmal
said the site at Aspoort
had long
been identified as one of
the best for construction
of a dam.
The Northern Cape
government had recently
investigated the Aspoort
scheme as an opportunity
to stimulate development,
and had come up with
positive results.
However, the outcome of
the study clearly pointed
to a lack of
information in several
areas, particularly on
environmental and
ecological requirements.
”There are still
several years of study
required to gain
sufficient understanding
of these systems, to
judiciously decide on the
level of development that
would be naturally
sustainable,” Asmal
said.
Khan told Sapa that the
cost of building the dam
would be about R1
billion.
Another site - at the
confluence of the Doring
and Olifants rivers
- was also under
consideration.
He said it would require
a minimum of seven to 10
years before
construction could start
on the Aspoort scheme.
The Doring River rises in
the mountains north of
Ceres and runs
north through the Karoo
for over 100km, before
turning east and
joining the Olifants.
So
there you have it!
Remember you heard about
it on the BIG
BASS website
first!
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