THULAMELA - The Nandoni Dam, a masterpiece of engineering and inter-disciplinary teamwork, is about seventy percent complete and upon completion it is foreseen that the region's water problem will be something of the past.

This ingenious scheme includes a net storage capacity of 164 million cubic metres and will compare with the Middle-Letaba Dam with a capacity of 167 million cubic metres. It is situated between Thohoyandou and Malamulele with a catchment area of 1 380km², which stretches from Louis Trichardt in the west to Malamulele in the east. The overall length of the dam wall will be 2,215 kilometres with a spillway of 200 metres in length to accommodate the regional maximum flood of 4 650 cubic metres per second. The height of the dam wall from the lowest foundation to the part where there is no overspill (the non-overspill above) is 47 metres. While the reservoir capacity of the dam at full supply level is 164 million cubic metres, the reservoir surface area at full supply level is 15,7 million square metres (15,7 square kilometres). The dam was initially known as the Mutoti Dam, but the name was changed to Nandoni Dam in 1995.

The construction of the Nandoni Dam forms part of the Luvuvhu River Government Water Scheme of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and its main purpose is to supply water for domestic use by the year 2003. The areas and communities that will benefit are the urban areas of Louis Trichardt and Thohoyandou and the rural communities in the northern part of the Northern Province from Malamulele and Lambani in the east to Sinthumule /Kutama in the west. The scheme consists of five main project components, the first being the construction of the Nandoni Dam, which is nearly completed. The second component, the construction of Nandoni Water Treatment Works (WTW) with associated bulk pipelines and service reservoirs is still to commence. The third component, the Xikundu Weir and Water Treatment Works, with its associated bulk pipelines and service reservoirs is about eighty percent underway. The last two components have already begun, including pipelines from the Nandoni Dam to Thohoyandou and the Albasini Dam and a bridge over the Luvuvhu River between Tshiulungoma and Dididi. With phase one, the Nandoni WTW and Xikundu WTW will respectively have a capacity of 60 000 m3/day and 10 000m3/day.

Securing bulk water for the region is the purpose of the scheme. This includes raw water storage (Nandoni Dam and Xikundu Weir), the Water Treatment Works and bulk pipelines to command reservoirs. Thereafter it will be the responsibility of the Water Board to supply clean, filtered water to local supply reservoirs. From the local reservoirs the responsibility to supply water to community end users will rest with the local municipalities. A system of tariff will be levied for all domestic water supplied. The management of this may ultimately be contracted out to a Water Board from which local authorities will buy water for sale to end users.

A Project Steering Committee (PSC) was formed during the Environmental Impact Assessments stage. The PSC members represent many of government departments, territorial councils, development agencies and role players such as SANCO and NEHAWU. The Community Action Committee (CAC) assists this committee and several of its sub-committees, which operate at grassroots level throughout all the project components of this scheme.

Communities are enabled, through training and development, to actively participate in the economic development of the area. At present, the Nandoni Dam project component employs 386 people of whom 193 are from the local communities directly affected by the construction activities. The Xikundu project component employs 295 people of whom 251 are from the local communities. Local contractors at Xikundu, for example, were identified to erect security fencing around the Xikundu Water Treatment Works and accredited training was provided to them during the erection of this fence.

The estimated total cost of the Nandoni Dam is R373,3 million, while the estimated total cost of the Nandoni Water Treatment Works, pipelines and reservoirs is R238,4 million. The estimated total cost of the Xikundu Weir, Water Treatment Works, pipelines and reservoirs is R189,3 million.

People directly affected by the scheme include those communities that presently live within the dam basin. The communities of Budeli, Mulenzhe, Tshiulongoma and Dididi will have to relocate. The relocation will apply to approximately 400 families. The planning of the relocation of these communities involved the valued input from sub-committees of the CAC.

At present the building of new villages for the families from Budeli and Mulenzhe is being sped up. The new construction includes houses, Musanda (the chief's site), streets, churches, public amenities and other infrastructure like water supply and sanitation. The objective of the relocation process is to ensure that all the families will be accommodated in conditions no less favourable than their current living conditions. In addition, issues of compensation for loss of resources such as grazing, arable land and wood fuel are being explored with all relevant role-players. Even issues of preservation of cultural and archaeological heritage and the exhumation and reinterment of remains in graves have been addressed. The protection of natural flora and management of the Luvuvhu River catchment were also considered. An Environmental Officer has been appointed to oversee compliance with all records of decisions approved by the Environmental Impact Assessments.

Targeted joint venture building contracts have been awarded to local contractors. All contractors working on the relocation programme hire both skilled and unskilled workers from the communities directly affected. Skills development training is offered to local workers and job seekers. Women have been particularly involved. They receive accredited training in skills such as catering, concrete technologies, brickwork and construction of manholes. Women now offer catering services to the scheme and will also be involved in the pipeline project components with the construction of valve chambers and such structures.

Because of the diverse nature of the project many disciplines are represented on the team of the project. They include archaeology, architecture, civil as well as electrical and mechanical engineering, integrated environmental management, industrial relations, land survey, landscape architecture, law, quantity surveying and social sciences.