Elita Chikwati Senior Agriculture Reporter
Water levels in the country’s major dams have remained largely static due to the current prolonged dry spell, high temperatures and the resultant decline in inflows, the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) has said.
Some major dams are still below 50 percent and will not be able to support the necessary socio-economic activities in the absence of further inflows.
The national dam level average however remains higher than the 71,8 percent expected during this period of the year.
More than 50 percent of rural and urban centres who consume raw water will have enough supply for the next 21 months.
In an update on the national dam situation, Zinwa corporate communications and marketing manager, Mrs Marjorie Munyonga said, on Monday, the national dam level average stood at 90.2 percent.
“The national dam level average however remains higher than the 71,8 percent expected during this period of the year. While the outlook appears favourable at a national scale, there are major dams which are still below 50 percent and will not be able support the necessary socio-economic activities in the absence of further inflows.
These include Mzingwane (8,4 percent, Mazowe Dam (42,5 percent), Tshongokwe (34,6 percent) and Clifton Dam (30,95).
“A total of 53,2 percent of rural and urban centres are raw water secure with their water supply dams holding water sufficient for the next 21 months while 44,7 percent of the rural and urban centres have their water supply dams holding water sufficient for a period of 12 and 20.9 months. Those rural and urban centres with dams holding less than 12 months of supplies constitute 4,3 percent,” she said.
Mrs Munyonga urged all irrigating farmers and other raw water users who intend to draw water from Zinwa managed sources to start lodging their applications with their respective service centres and catchments for water reservations ahead of the commencement of the winter cropping season.
“These applications will lead to the signing of water abstraction agreements between Zinwa and the water users and help the authority to efficiently plan and allocate the limited water resources available,” she said.
The post Dam levels remain static appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.