Heritage Mitigation of the Olifants-Doorn River Water Resources Project: raising of Clanwilliam Dam
By:
Wouter Fourie
Date:
Tue, 14/08/2018 - 18:00
Venue:
SA Astronomical Observatory auditorium
Branch:
Western Cape
TUESDAY 14 AUGUST: 18:00 for 18:30 at the SA Astronomical Observatory auditorium: Wouter Fourie: “Heritage Mitigation of the Olifants-Doorn River Water Resources Project: raising of Clanwilliam Dam”.
The Clanwilliam Dam was originally commissioned in the early 1930s and thirty years later water needs promoted the commissioning of a new dam wall in 1965. A second raising of the wall, which included an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), was commissioned in 2005. The Assessment identified a deep heritage landscape, consisting of rock art, Stone Age sites, historical sites, historical industrial-related structures and landscape vistas. To mitigate the impact of the raising of the dam wall, the Report recommended a set of measures to be implemented before inundation: relocation of two rock art panels; documentation of 29 rock art sites; excavation and documentation of 11 Stone Age sites; excavation and recording of 10 historical structures and complexes of structures; mapping and documentation of the original Old Cape road; relocation of 60 graves from four historic cemeteries; documentation of oral history around the dam; and documentation of the cultural landscape. This talk will provide a background to the project.