The National Dam Inventory Project, which aims to maintain and improve the safety of dams, as well as guarantee long-term safety, was considered this Tuesday during the ninth ordinary session of the National Water Council (CNA).
The Minister of Energy and Water, João Baptista Borges, pointed out, at the end of the meeting, the importance of carrying out an analysis of the state of dam integrity.
“Basically, with a view to developing an intervention plan for dams that are in weaker structural conditions”, he explained.
“Their safety is extremely important for the population”, he added, highlighting the Quiminha and Lomaum dams, which are in structural conditions of “marked degradation”.
According to the official, the aforementioned dams are already in the rehabilitation phase, considering that the authorities' concern is to ensure that the dams are in “acceptable conditions and that they do not present any risk of collapse”.
The National Dam Inventory Project, which relies on external consultancy and which should result in an intervention plan, includes a detailed assessment of the safety of 20 dams: Biópio, Calonga, Calueque, Cambambe, Capanda, Chicava, Chicungo, Cuando, Dungo , Gandjelas, Gove, Laúca, Lomaum, Mabubas, Matala, Neves, Novagrolíder A, Quiminha, Quipungo and Tundavala, spread across eight provinces (Benguela, Huíla, Cunene, Cuanza Norte, Cuanza Sul, Malanje, Huambo and Bengo).
The meeting, chaired by the vice-president, Esperança da Costa, also analyzed the National Water Resources Registry, which involves various infrastructures built along rivers, aimed at strengthening institutional capacity, as well as avoiding conflicts in the use of water resources.
The Strategy for the Protection and Preservation of Springs of the Main Rivers of the Country, a document that identifies a series of factors that lead to the degradation of springs, “with a negative environmental impact”, was also under consideration at the meeting.
CNA members were also informed about the steps to create an entity to manage the Cafu Canal, an infrastructure 165 kilometers long and 31 water reservoirs in the province of Cunene, which aims to respond to water scarcity in the region.
The managing entity of the Cafu Canal, explained the Minister of Energy and Water, should begin operations in 2025 and its mission will be the maintenance, conservation and repair of water pumps and the respective inspection.
