Extreme climate raises concern
2005-11-02 14:59
Cape Town - Climate change in South Africa could force a safety review of the country's dams and reservoirs, parliament's water affairs and forestry portfolio committee heard on Wednesday.
"In South Africa, because of our variable climate, we have to build our dams bigger, generally, than elsewhere, because we have really big droughts and really big floods," University of KwaZulu-Natal professor of hydrology Roland Schulze told MPs.
If these extremes became greater, as forecast, then this would mean a re-look at present dam safety regulation.
Moreover, when new dams were built, the additional risk of bigger floods and bigger droughts would have to be factored in, Schulze said.
- SAPA