Kouga Dam, Arch dam in Eastern Cape, South Africa

Kouga Dam is a concrete arch dam on the Kouga River, about 21 km west of Patensie in the Eastern Cape. Its curved face, streaked grey and brown, carries a low parapet and five block-like piers along the crest, with steep green hillsides rising on both sides. The wall stands 94 m high and 365 m long, holding back 128.49 million m³.

Approved by parliament in 1957 as part of the Gamtoos River Government Water Scheme, the wall was completed in 1967 in the narrow Kouga Poort at a cost of R8.3 million, and the scheme was taken into use in 1970. It was named after former cabinet minister Paul Sauer and renamed Kouga Dam in 1995. It was the first double-curvature arch dam built in the Republic.

The dam was named Paul Sauer Dam after Paul Sauer, a South African cabinet minister, and was renamed Kouga Dam in 1995. The structure is the main component of the Gamtoos River Government Water Scheme, which also takes in the Gamtoos canals and the Loerie Dam.

Access is via the R330 and then the R331 from the N2 at Humansdorp; all but the last 8 km is tarred, and a short tunnel comes just before the dam wall. The wall stands in the narrow Kouga Poort below the Coutomietberg, about 21 km west of Patensie.

The dam wall was built at a cost of R8.3 million and was the first double-arch wall constructed in the Republic of South Africa, with a crest length of 317 m and a height of 82 m. Three 1200 kVA hydroelectric turbines sit at its base, though they are currently not in use.