Annual flooding of the Lourens River banks to be addressed

Lourens River flood alleviation measures to confront annual flooding of the banks was the subject of discussion at a well-attended public meeting held at Strand Town Hall on Thursday evening (15 February).

Phase 1J of the project began last November and is scheduled to be completed towards mid 2025.

This phase of the project will see the construction of a number of flood alleviation measures in various reaches of the river, starting at Beach Road bridge in Strand and extending to Meadow Lane in Somerset West.

Various maps illustrating the locations of construction sites and affected areas were erected at the public meeting as the City of Cape Town, in conjunction with members of the Lourens River Catchment Forum, the contractors and the consulting engineers invited members of the public to study the maps before the meeting.

Steven Louw, who serves on the forum as well as the Lourens River Conservation Society, provided some background on the purpose of the engagements and the importance of sharing this information with the public.

“The Lourens River is second cleanest out of 16 rivers in Cape Town,” he said. “This river could be a shining example and model for others.”

Residents studied maps that outlined the location of intervention measures to alleviate flooding along the Lourens River. Photo: Yaseen Gaffar

Members of the pubic also had the chance to directly engage officials and stakeholders directly responsible for the project.

The meeting was well-attended with just under 100 people occupying the Strand Town Hall.

Louw admitted that the further downstream, and closer to the ocean it travelled, the more contaminated the river become.

But the focus of the night was Phase 1J, of which a brief overview of the scope includes the construction of new or rehabilitation of existing gabion baskets along the river banks, construction of earth berms and erosion-preventing blocks, cement block retaining walls about 200 m long and gabion mattresses and/or grass block-lined stormwater canals. The phase also includes the refurbishment of the existing stormwater pump station and related infrastructure.

In a presentation by Ewen Griesel of Lukhozi Consulting Engineers it was noted that the project covers 6 km in length along the most flooding-prone parts of the river and the 88-week long project is 17% complete.

It was also stated construction would impact traffic, noise and dust in the immediate surrounds, and that this would be constantly monitored for adherence.

“Flooding will still be a problem until the project is complete, especially this winter season,” Griesel pointed out.

During the question-and-answer session a member of the Somerset West Bird Club asked how the project would affect the Dick Dent Bird Sanctuary in Strand.

The representative of Lukhozi Consulting Engineers said further engagement will take place with affected parties before any work is approved.

A resident of Stormhaven Park Retirement Village complained of water running down from neighbouring estates during excessive rains, which then floods his residence. He asked whether measures of the project would address this problem.

“We are creating more capacity for more volume and addressing bottlenecks along the river, and therefore water should dissipate differently than before and have an overall positive impact as intended,” the representative explained.