Basic Assessment For Maintenance Activities at the Hydropower Facilities on the Ash River Between Bethlehem and Clarens In The Free State Province, South Africa

INTRODUCTION
REH Operations & Maintenance (REH), is a subsidiary of the Serengeti Energy Group who owns three Hydropower Facilities on the Ash River between Bethlehem and Clarens in the Free State Province of South Africa. This desktop palaeontology assessment forms part of the process for obtaining Environmental Authorisation from the competent authority in terms of the National Environmental Management Act (Act no. 107 of 1998) (NEMA) for undertaking maintenance work at the three facilities.

PROJECT LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION
The three hydropower facilities are situated on the Ash River between Bethlehem and Clarens in the Free State Province of South Africa. The facilities are the Stortemelk Hydro (Figure 1.4), Merino Hydro, and Sol Plaatje Hydro. All three facilities receive water from the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) which uses the Ash River as a natural conduit to convey water into the Vaal River system to supplement the greater Gauteng’s water supply. The LHWP undertakes maintenance on the transfer scheme infrastructure at planned intervals once every several years (depending on the nature of the maintenance). During this period, it provides other facilities, like the above-mentioned hydropower facilities, to undertake maintenance and do upgrades to infrastructure under no or low flow conditions. The next planned shutdown is for the period 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025 and REH would like to undertake maintenance and upgrade work at the facilities during this period.
The activities to be undertaken at each facility include work on existing infrastructure but also in the river or dam as well as on the beds and banks. The main activities identified to date include:
Slope integrity improvements to, and excavations in, the tailrace (bed and banks of the downstream river section).
Removing deposits from the watercourse due to erosion (up and down stream).
Construction of coffer dams or use of caissons to create a safe work environment for maintenance and upgrade works (up and down stream).
Future maintenance work at the facilities that might trigger listed activities in terms of NEMA that are to be undertaken in terms of a Maintenance Management Plan (MMP).
REH has identified the need for undertaking a Basic Assessment at all three of the facilities since the proposed activities may trigger several listed activities in terms of the NEMA Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations (2014) as amended. The facilities have all received Environmental Authorisation (EA) in terms of NEMA or a Record of Decision in terms of the preceding Environment Conservation Act, 1989 (Act no. 73 of 1989) (ECA) and are operating under Water Use Licences in terms of the National Water Act (Act no. 36 of 1998) (NWA).

Province(s): Free State