Wemmershoek Dam

As early as 1882 the Cape Colony's hydrographic surveyor reported on the potential of the Wemmershoek valley for water supply.

In 1899 the municipal council of Woodstock, then an independent suburb of Cape Town, began purchasing land at Wemmershoek with the aim of building a reservoir.

In 1907 the councils of Woodstock, Mowbray, Rondebosch and Claremont obtained a private bill from the colonial parliament authorising the construction of a small dam at Wemmershoek.

[1] After the Second World War, with the growth of Cape Town's urban population, the city again needed to find an additional water supply.

The dam impounds a reservoir of 58,644 megalitres (2,071.0×10^6 cu ft) capacity which, when full, covers an area of 296 hectares (730 acres).