Steenbras Upper Dam

Steenbras Upper Dam
visible at upper left
LocationWestern Cape, South Africa
Coordinates34°10′5″S 18°54′5″E / 34.16806°S 18.90139°E / -34.16806; 18.90139
Opening date1977
Owner(s)City of Cape Town
Dam and spillways
Type of damEarth-fill
ImpoundsSteenbras River
Height34 m (112 ft)
Length940 m (3,080 ft)
Reservoir
CreatesSteenbras Upper Reservoir
Total capacity31,767 Ml (1,121.8×10^6 cu ft)
Catchment area29.7 km2 (11.5 sq mi)
Surface area263 ha (650 acres)

Steenbras Upper Dam is an earth-fill type dam located in the Hottentots Holland Mountains above Gordons Bay in the Western Cape, South Africa. It impounds the Steenbras River upstream of the older Steenbras Dam. The dam was constructed in 1977 for the City of Cape Town and serves mainly for municipal and industrial use. The hazard potential of the dam has been ranked high (3).[1]

Map of the Steenbras Dams and their catchment area

Steenbras Upper Dam also functions as the upper reservoir of the city's Steenbras pumped-storage hydroelectric power scheme, with a lower reservoir at the foot of the mountain. It is also linked by an open canal and pipeline to the Rockview Dam, which acts as the upper reservoir of the Palmiet Pumped Storage Scheme, a separate pumped-storage scheme operated by Eskom and the Department of Water and Sanitation. The link allows water from the Palmiet River to be transferred to the dam.[2]

  1. ^ "List of Registered Dams". Dam Safety Office, Department of Water and Sanitation. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Dams". www.capetown.gov.za. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.