BCC decommissions Umzingwane Dam

Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter

BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) is today set to decommission Umzingwane Dam due to critically low water levels, a development that will worsen the city’s water crisis.

Bulawayo is enduring a 72-hour weekly water shedding programme as the council aims at saving the scarce resource.

In a statement on Friday, Bulawayo Town Clerk Mr Christopher Dube said Umzingwane Dam is being decommissioned as water levels stand at 6,6 percent while the city’s dams were 50 percent full.

“The City of Bulawayo would like to advise residents, stakeholders and members of the public that Umzingwane Dam (volume-6,6 percent) will be decommissioned on Friday 9th September 2022 due to low water levels. This will result in five out of six dams remaining operational,” said Mr Dube.

He said Upper Ncema Dam was also critically low at 7,6 percent while Inyakuni Dam is 45 percent full and Lower Ncema 47 percent full.

Mr Dube said the only dams with water levels above 50 percent are Insiza Mayfair at 69 percent and Mtshabezi Dam at 71 percent.

Mr Dube said the water demand for the city outweighs the council’s pumping capacity hence the implementation of the72-hour water shedding programme.

“Due to the low levels of Umzingwane dam, the city has been unable to meet its daily demand which averages between 155megalitres ML per day. The maximum available raw water supply is currently below 120 ML/per day. As a result of the gap between demand and supply of 35ML/per day, the city has been on a water shedding regime, which has been progressively implemented from 48 hour to a 72-hour schedule. The City of Bulawayo wishes to apologise to its valued customers for the inconvenience caused,” said Mr Dube.

He attributed climate change which resulted in low rainfalls for the suppressed water levels in the city’s dams.

“Residents are urged to note that the city is grappling with one of the poorest rainy seasons experienced as at the end of April 2022 which resulted in low global storage in three out of six council dams,” he said.

@nqotshili