Proposed hydro power station at Augrabies

[Toko]

Plans to build a series of hydroelectric plants along the Orange River – including one at the Augrabies Falls

[Flutterby]

It never ends!!

[nan]

at Augrabies Falls

[Lisbeth]

Another one

[Toko]

This is not really new

DRAFT SCOPING REPORT July 2013

[nan]

oups... is less bad than nuclear... but...
lot of fauna, plants, people

[Richprins]

Hmmm...have sent on!

It does not seem to be within the Park, really?

[Toko]

Riemvasmaak, owned by the Riemvasmaak Community Trust, is located within the borders of the Augrabies Falls National Park (AFNP). The farm was however excluded from AFNP in terms of Section 2(3) of the National Parks Act of 1976 (refer to Annexure D for a copy of the deproclamation) following the first successful land restitution in South Africa after the 1994 elections. The land wasreturned to the Riemvasmaak community following their forced removal in 1973/74 during Apartheid.
Portions of the proposed project (e.g. the power house and tailrace) would be located on Riemvasmaak, however other portions (e.g. a weir and canal) would be located on land owned by the South African National Parks (SANParks).

[Toko]

Augrabies Falls EIA still in progressToday's News
28 Mon, Jul 2014

An environmental impact assessment (EIA) on the viability of a hydropower plant at the Augrabies National Park in the Northern Cape is still in progress, advises Mercia Grimbeek, Project Manager at HydroSA, the company tasked with the project. (See http://tourismupdate.co.za/NewsDetails. ... wsId=72335) “We have no additional comment at this stage.”

SANParks is one of a series of stakeholders that has expressed concern on the proposed development, as sections of the plant will be in the national park, much of it on the community-owned Riemvasmaak Trust land. The extraction of substantial amounts of water could also affect the flow of the falls.

Howard Hendricks, SANParks GM for Policy and Governance, was recently quoted in the SANParks Times newsletter saying that, while the conservation authority was not against the development in its entirety, it did not support the construction of infrastructure that fell within the park. SANParks had raised these issues during the public participation process that was part of the EIA.

Contribution to the EIA will be made by a series of experts in ecology, agriculture, noise generation and heritage. Once the assessment is completed the public will have the opportunity to comment.

HydroSA’s core business is to develop run-of-river hydro projects in Southern Africa. These developments, says the company website, don't resemble conventional hydroelectric facilities and divert only a portion of stream flow, leaving enough water to protect fish and wildlife and allow for recreational use. “Additionally, our set-ups allow high water flows to pass freely downstream and perform important ecosystem functions. Essentially, a run-of-river hydroelectric facility uses the flow of a stream as it naturally occurs. Therefore, this type of facility requires little or no reservoir capacity for water storage, meaning we build no dams.”

[Toko]

Perceptions concerning Augrabies Hydroelectric Power Station

A proposal has been tabled to construct a 40 Megawatt hydropower station on the Orange River, on the farm Riemvasmaak, North of the Augrabies Falls.

The power station would be driven with water harvested from the Orange River upstream of the Augrabies Falls. It is anticipated that the harvesting of water will have an impact on the Augrabies Falls. As custodians of the Falls, the South African National Parks (SANParks) would like to engage with visitors to ascertain their perceptions about this proposed hydropower station development.

Please submit your feedback by participating in the following online survey:
https://adobeformscentral.com/?f=f7dKuoJeBDRt6hBDqCShcg