Abstract
ABSTRACT Hazelmere Dam, located on the Mdloti river 12 km from the KwaZulu Natal coast, was completed in 1975. Since then it has lost more than 25% of its original design capacity through siltation, a fact which could threaten its economic life. This has occurred partly because of high annual average sediment accumulation rates under normal climatic conditions, and partly as a result of the 1987 floods, an extreme event with a return period of between 50 and 200 years. The objective of this work was to indicate why sediment production rates per km- of catchment area as indicated by dam siltation were higher than in most other KwaZuku Natal dam catchments. Basic rainfall, soil and slope conditions cause the Mdloti catchment to have a high erosion potential, which has been exacerbated in recent years by large scale population increases, vegetal degradation and road construction activities. These together created conditions for massive sediment transport during the 1987 floods. In terms of the theories of flood geomorphology the study concluded that the ongoing debate on the effectiveness of extreme events in doing geomorphological work must take account of short term human induced changes in catchment use if it is ever to be resolved credibly.
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