La Gogue dam fills up after a long time |06 February 2013

La Gogue was expected to continue getting water from Rochon last night “and if it rains in the bigger dam’s catchment area it will fill up even sooner,” he said.

Last year saw one of the most severe droughts ever in Seychelles forcing the government to install emergency desalination plants which helped stabilise supply.

The depletion was blamed on climate change which in reverse action last week saw the country get flash floods which consumers hoped would amid all the damage they caused, at least fill up the dam.

The dam was 99% full on Monday but the level had dropped to 98% yesterday morning as demand stepped up treatment volume.

La Gogue and Hermitage treatment plants are normally simultaneously supplied by the same pipe from Rochon, which feeds the reservoir and the plant when there is enough water.

Efforts to raise the volume of La Gogue dam are ongoing and a feasibility study funded by the government and the African Development Bank is under way.

The actual work to raise the dam will start later this year and be completed in 2017 if the studies show the project to be worthwhile.

One of the issues the study will look at is the level of seepage from the dam which is expected to increase when higher water levels raise pressure and the amount of water going into the ground.

Also in progress is work to raise the volume of water getting into the dam through a pipe coming from the Mount Simpson area which is expected to deliver 2,500 tonnes of water daily by July.