| Omatako Dam | |
| Name Official: | Omatako Dam |
| Location Map: | Namibia |
| Coordinates: | -21.1483°N 17.1779°W |
| Dam Crosses: | Omatako River |
| Country: | Namibia |
| Location: | 100km (100miles) north of Okahandja, Otjozondjupa Region |
| Dam Type: | Earth fill embankment |
| Dam Length: | 3460m (11,350feet) |
| Dam Height: | 16m (52feet) |
| Dam Width Crest: | 5m (16feet) |
| Spillway Type: | Side chute |
| Spillway Capacity: | 2000m3/s |
| Construction Began: | 1978 |
| Opening: | 1981 |
| Res Capacity Total: | 43.49e6m3 |
| Res Surface: | 11.12km2 |
Omatako Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam about 100km (100miles) north of Okahandja in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It is named after the Omatako Mountains, and it dams the ephemeral Omatako River, with Omatako meaning "butt" in Oshiwambo, the name referring to the shape of the Omatako Mountains.[1] The dam has a capacity of 43.49e6m3.[2]
Completed in 1981, it was originally envisaged to become part of the Eastern National Water Carrier, a scheme to supply water to Namibia's capital Windhoek from the Okavango River, 1000km (1,000miles) to the north on the Angolan border.[3] The scheme was never completed. Omatako Dam today only contains floods and supplies water to the Von Bach Dam.[2] [4] As such, it is one of three dams supplying the capital Windhoek with water.[5]