National Water Act, 1998 (Act No. 36 of 1998)Chapter 12 : Safety of Dams118. Control measures for dam with safety risk |
| (1) | The owner of a dam must— |
| (a) | within the period specified, provide the Minister with any information, drawings, specifications, design assumptions, calculations, documents and test results requested by the Minister; or |
| (b) | give any person authorised by the Minister access to that dam, to enable the Minister to determine whether— |
| (i) | that dam is a dam with a safety risk; |
| (ii) | that dam should be declared to be a dam with a safety risk; |
| (iii) | a directive should be issued for specific repairs or alterations to that dam; |
| (iv) | the owner has complied with any provisions of this Act applicable to that dam. |
| (2) | The Minister may by notice in the Gazette declare a category of dams to be dams with a safety risk. |
(3) The Minister may—
| (a) | by written notice to the owner of a dam, declare that dam to be a dam with a safety risk; |
| (b) | direct the owner of a dam with a safety risk to submit, at the owner's cost, and within a period specified by the Minister, a report by an approved professional person regarding the safety of that dam; or |
| (c) | direct the owner of a dam with a safety risk to undertake, at the owner's cost, and within a period specified by the Minister, any specific repairs or alterations to that dam which are necessary to protect the public, property or the resource quality from a risk of failure of the dam. |
| (4) | If the owner of the dam fails to comply with the directive contemplated in subsection (3)(c) within the period specified, the Minister may undertake the repairs or. alterations and recover the costs from the owner. |
| (5) | Before issuing a directive, the Minister must— |
| (a) | be satisfied that the repairs or alterations directed are necessary, adequate, effective and appropriate to reduce the risk to an acceptable level; and |
| (b) | consider the impact on public safety, property, the resource quality and socio-economic aspects if the dam fails. |