Chronicle Editor
Mejury Magaya, Midlands Reporter
GWERU City Council (GCC) says it is continuing with its water rationing programme as water challenges are expected to continue following insignificant inflows into its supply dams from the start of the rainy season.
GCC public relations and communications officer, Ms Vimbai Chingwaramuse, said Gwenhoro Dam is now at 10 percent of capacity while the current supply dam, Amapongobwe, is at 51 percent.
“Our dam levels are still very low as we haven’t so far received significant rains to fill our water supply dams. Amapongobwe is now at 51 percent from 72 percent when it was commissioned late last year. On the other hand, Gwenhoro is now at 10 percent and can be decommissioned at any time by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa),” she said.
Ms Chingwaramuse said as a result, the local authority is continuing with water rationing.
“We introduced a water rationing schedule last year when we switched to Amapongobwe. The situation is not very bad as we are able to supply all areas while we prioritise critical areas like the health institutions. But residents should brace themselves for continued water rationing until such a time when the dams have adequate water. We are saying that the dam levels are too low such that if we do not receive more rains this season, the situation will get worse,” she said.
Ms Chingwaramuse said Amapongobwe Dam’s holding capacity is 40 000 megalitres while Gwenhoro is 32 000 megalitres.
“From the look of things, we are still way below that. However, we continue to encourage residents to use water sparingly,” she said.
Gweru water supply has been erratic and the city once experienced a typhoid outbreak in 2018 which left eight residents dead and more than 2 000 needing medical attention.
High lying areas like Ridgemont and Harben Park have gone for months on dry taps.
Online Reporter