A feasibility study on phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) should be completed within two-and-a-half to three years, says Department of Water Affairs and Forestry director-general Mike Muller.

This follows government officials, among them Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Ronnie Kasrils, previously stating that the project, originally planned in four phases, will in all likelihood not continue beyond the first phase.

Kasrils commented in 2002 to the Johannesburg Press Club that Gauteng, as the biggest user of the development, is likely to manage with its current water resources for at least the next 20 to 25 years, obviating the necessity to immediately proceed with any development beyond phase 1.

However, at the opening of the completed first phase of the LHWP in Lesotho last month, President Thabo Mbeki announced that further phases will the subject of a joint feasibility study between Lesotho and South Africa. Not that this should be taken as a definite go-ahead for the second phase of the water project.

Mbeki also pointed out that any further development of the project will ask the "investment of large amounts of capital". He added that while South Africa will have to cater for additional and growing demand from the Vaal River system, the country would also need to find the most cost-effective way to achieve this including encouraging South Africans to use water more sparingly. There is no doubt pressure from the Lesotho government to proceed with the next phase. The mountain kingdom, with its status as one of the world’s least-developed countries, benefited generously from the construction project. The one resource it has in abundance is water.

LHWP phase 1 pumped R1,5-billion into the Lesotho economy, apart from also producing electricity through hydropower for the country.

South Africa’s royalty payments for the fresh water amount to $20-million a year, about a quarter of the kingdom’s total exports.

About R240-million has also been paid as compensation to and for the resettlement of people in Lesotho due to the damming of water.

The project has not been without its share of controversy. The LHWP has its roots in the 1980s, with the then apartheid government accused of taking advantage of Lesotho’s desperate circumstances in its quest to ensure water security. Environmental activists also questioned the impact of dams on the country’s mostly rural population.

In addition, there was also the conviction on bribery charges last year of former Lesotho Highlands Water Authority CEO Masupha Sole and Canadian engineering firm Acres International.

At the inauguration, King Letsie III responded to some of these contro-versies by announcing that studies are under way to investigate the impact of the reduced river flow due to the LHWP, in order to take mitigation measures, should it be necessary.

He also said that Lesotho and South Africa have "at last agreed" to undertake the feasibility study for phase two. He said a succession phase would serve to give meat to Mbeki’s ideal of "lifting Lesotho from its position as a least-developed country". He added that, as the most critical infrastructure has already been put in place for phase 1, the cost of phase 2 should be much less.

The phases of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project The LHWP was designed to be built in phases, with phase 1A completed at a cost of about R11-billion –comprising the 185-m-high double-curvature Katse dam, a 45-km transfer tunnel, a dam and hydropower station at Muela, a 42-km delivery tunnel and outflow structure.

Phase 1B, which cost R6,5-billion, comprises the 145-m-high 620-m-long Mohale dam; a 32-km tunnel linking the dam to Katse dam; the 20-m-high 180-m-long Matsoku weir and 6,2-km tunnel, which will deliver up to 10 m3 of water a second into Katse dam.

Phases 1A and 1B yield about 27 m3 of water a second, and this is used in Gauteng and five other South African provinces, Mpumalanga, the Free State, the North West, the Northern Cape and Limpopo although in smaller quantities.

TCTA managed the construction of delivery tunnel north and is responsible for the transfer of the water across the border into the Ash river. TCTA has also been mandated to manage the liability of the water-transfer component in its entirety on behalf of the South African government. The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority manages the components of the project that fall within Lesotho’s borders, including the construction, operation and maintenance of dams, tunnels, power stations and related infrastructure.