The Prison dam is located within and owned by the Rustenburg Local Municipality, in the North West Province. The dam is situated on the outskirts of the town and is approximately 8,5km northeast of the center of the town. The Prison Dam has a storage capacity of
120 1000 m³ and a dam wall height of 6m. The dam is registered as a category II dam with the Department of Water Affairs.
The residential area, Boitekong X15, is located within the Rustenburg Local Municipality and is located downstream of the Prison Dam. During the previous rainy season, a number of houses were inundated by floodwaters and the residents had to be evacuated to safer places. Remedial measures which include amongst others converting the Prison Dam to a flood attenuation dam have been identified as a mitigation measure to protect people and property against further flooding.
It is proposed to upgrade the existing Prison dam by :
• Increasing existing dam embankment height by 2.5m and length with a combination of compacted earth embankment and masonry wall; and
• Redesigning and modifying the existing spillway.
The spillway invert level will remain the same. The dam embankment will be raised by 2.5m, and the storage capacity will be increased to 200 000m³.
SRK Consulting (Pty) Ltd has been appointed by Impala Platinum, as an independent consultant to undertake the Environmental Authorization Application for the dam upgrade. Impala Platinum intends to appoint a suitably qualified contractor to undertake the construction of the Prison Dam upgrade.
