Voëlvlei Dam
The Voëlvlei Dam was constructed in 1952 to expand the capacity of the Voëlvlei lake, which formed in a natural depression. Because the lake had a limited catchment area, a canal was also constructed to supply water to the reservoir from a weir in the Nuwekloof Pass on the Klein Berg River. To meet increased demand for water from Cape Town, the dam wall was raised in 1969, and a second canal was constructed in 1971 to supply water from the Leeu River and Vier-en-Twintig River, which drain the Groot Winterhoek.
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Since 1734 the farm on which Voëlvlei Dam is situated belonged to the Walters family, who were of German descent. In 1948 the government expropriated the land and the farm for the Berg River Irrigation Scheme. The state paid compensation to the Walters family in the amount of £44,000 and the Vogelvlei Quarries (Pty) Ltd which bought the remainder of Voëlvlei in 1946 for £48,000. The Walters family did not agree to the expropriation and maintained a long-standing dispute with the then Nationalist government. After South Africa became a democratic country in 1994 the son of the former owner of Voëlvlei instituted a land claim under the Land Restitution Act.