Sancold
Project Management in Pretoria

The new SANCOLD’s mission will be to advance the science and art of planning, to represent South Africa on ICOLD, as in the past, closer together.
The new SANCOLD will continue, inevitably involved in projects concerning dams and water resources, ecologically and socially sustainable manner.
The South African National Committee on Large Dams.
The new SANCOLD will thus be a vehicle to bring the various groups, financially sound, to develop South African water resources in a safe, rehabilitation and decommissioning of dams, maintenance, management, operation, construction, design, the International Commission on Large Dams and will support ICOLD's mission in South Africa.
has revised its constitution and will be restructured as the new SANCOLD.

The new SANCOLD will, however, be constituted to be inclusive, widely embracing and democratically representative of the dam community in South Africa. A dam can be constructed from concrete or natural materials like earth and rock. They need good rock for their foundations, and for the sides of the valleys, to resist the forces on the dam. Embankment dams are made mainly from natural materials. Embankment dams are usually chosen for sites with wide valleys. It is called a gravity dam because gravity holds it down to the ground stopping the water in the reservoir pushing it over. They are also used to regulate the flow of water in rivers. When heavy rain occurs, it is stopped by the dam and held back in the reservoir, but this is only possible for small to medium size floods. Plants will grow naturally on fertile soil that is watered by rain. Irrigation water can be stored in reservoirs during the rainy season, then in the drier seasons it can be released from the reservoir and distributed over the land through a system of canals. The construction of a dam across a river forms a reservoir that raises the water level upstream, stores the water, and slows down its rate of flow. Reservoirs are created to provide a benefit to people. However, the flooding, or inundation, of land and the management of the reservoir water can have an unfavourable effect on people, the wildlife and the environment, not only in and around the valley, but also downstream of the dam. People and their livelihoods are affected when the areas where they live and work are inundated by a reservoir. Some people made their living from farming the land or fishing from the river. Upstream of the dam, the river is flooded and becomes a reservoir. The nature of the river flow downstream is changed. The dam can hold back sediment that normally finds its way downstream. When the river valley is inundated with water, animals are forced to leave the area and plants and trees are killed. These fish passes have to be designed very carefully to make sure that the conditions are right for the fish to use them. Over a number of years, the sediment in the reservoir can build up, and reduce the space available for storing water. If too much sediment is stored, the natural balance of the river downstream can be changed, affecting people, wildlife and plants as far away as the river estuary. The reservoir is designed to reduce the amount of sediment deposited, and to maximise the sediment flow downstream. Sufficient dissolved oxygen is needed to maintain aquatic animal and plant life, and to prevent some types of chemical reactions that form unwanted pollution in the water.