The dam at Hy Many Park in Randpark Ridge shows clear signs of major erosion.
Randpark Ridge Village Association’s (RRVA) chairperson Phil Culham explained how the RRVA has been working tirelessly to clean and maintain the park, by removing massive amounts of grass, reeds and alien plants. “What the cleaning up exposed was how severe erosion has become.” said Culham.
The dam receives its water fed from under Beyers Naudé Drive, and in turn, feeds the stream which connects to the Klein Jukskei River. Water is seeping out from the dam wall and creating a mud-bath in the park. The weir is cracked and the concrete run-off has been almost completely uprooted by the leaks and erosion. The walls of the dam are clearly disintegrating. “This issue needs to be urgently addressed; we work hard to maintain the parks and the City must play their part,” said Culham.
In other parts of the park, “What used to be very slow, small, flowing streams have become fast-moving masses of water that collect in certain areas,” added Culham. According to him, the RRVA has constantly raised these issues with the entities involved in the parks such as the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), City Parks and Joburg Water.
“The power of fast-moving water is unbelievable and during the rainy season some houses near the water lines are flooded.” This is evident from the floods which occurred in February. A previous story in February, Flooding damages six houses, detailed how six houses were damaged by the floods in Randpark Ridge.
The eroding of the dam impacts the need to develop all wetlands connecting to the Klein Jusksei River such as Randpark Ridge, Weltevreden Park, Kelland and Fairland. “Hopefully, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study will help all areas urgently needing attention,” added Culham.
See previous story about the study:
GALLERY: Weltevreden Park wetlands public meeting.
