The following institutions provided information which was used to compile the current database. The source for each field is provided in the meta-database so that users can retrace the origin of the data for each separate record and field.
Dam Safety Office (DWAF)
List of dams
Hardcopy list of dams with a wall height greater than 5m and a capacity greater than 50000
Used data fields: locality number, name, capacity, river name, nearest town, distance from
nearest town, wall length, wall height, co-ordinates, surface area, construction date
Date: printed September 18, 1997
Contact person: Mr. Allan Chemaly, chief engineer
Hydrographical Survey Service (DWAF)
List of dams
Hardcopy list of dams
Used data fields: locality number, name, river name, co-ordinates, nearest town, province,
owner, construction/survey date, catchment area, capacity
Date: September 12, 1997
Contact person: Ms. Janet Clark
Hydrology Service (DWAF)
List of government SWBs, both natural and man-made
Hardcopy list
Used data fields: hydro number, name, place name, co-ordinates, drainage region, catchment
area, capacity, surface area
Date: 1996
Contact person: Mr. Johan Wentzel, assistant director
Institute of Water Quality Studies (IWQS, DWAF)
List of water bodies with water quality data
Data fields: station number and physical/chemical data such as pH, alkalinity and conductivity,
only pH and conductivity records were used
Digital data in DBF format
Date: August 1997
Contact person: Mr. Mike Silberbauer, specialist scientist
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT)
‘Wetlands of South Africa’, SA Wetlands Conservation Programme Series, Edited by G.I.
Cowan, 1995
Publication which includes list of wetlands in South Africa
Used data fields: name, co-ordinates, surface area, maximum depth, comments (shoreline
length and sea connection)
Date: 1995
Contact person: Mr. Geoff Cowan
Water Research Commission (WRC)
WR90-Surface Water Resources of South Africa
Digital data (CD-ROM) including a list of dams in DBF format
Data fields: area, perimeter, dsm, dam reg. id, catnum, dam no., name, capacity, river, town,
date, farm name, height, type, co-ordinates, sizec, hazard, class, surface area
Date: 1990
Contact person: Mr. Hugo Maaren
Water Resources, Development and Management Service (AGLW/FAO Rome)
Geo-referenced database on large African dams
The basic reference for this data base was the World register of large dams, prepared by
ICOLD. Additional information for South Africa was most likely based on the book
“Management of the Water Resources of the Republic of South Africa”, DWAF, 1986
Digital data in Excel format
Used Data Fields: country, name, river, nearest city, province/state, year of completion,
height, capacity, area, co-ordinates
Date: June 1996
Contact person: Mr. Jean-Marc Faures
