Let us conserve water to forestall tighter shedding

The 2021/22 rainy season was not as wet as we expected.

Our meteorologists told us in August last year that the country was to receive normal to above normal rains so we were encouraged.

However, they appear to have missed it.

Rains came late and a prolonged mid-season dry spell not only scorched crops in many parts of the country but also meant that inflows into some dams were poor.

That is why this year’s maize harvest is 1,7million tonnes, about 500 000 tonnes below national requirements for a year.

Some of our people did not harvest much so they will need to buy maize or maize meal to get them through to the next harvest around March next year.

In worse cases, they will need Government or donor assistance.

The poor rains mean much more for Bulawayo.

The city’s supply dams, all in dry Matabeleland South, took in little amounts by way of inflows.

The consequence will, as has become the tradition, mean austere water management by the Bulawayo City Council, beyond water rationing to the much dreaded water shedding.

The city’s dams are at 57,1 percent capacity.

It will stop drawing from Mzingwane next month as the dam level would have gotten too low for that.

Another reservoir Upper Ncema is seen going offline in September if consumption remains as high as it is now, city spokesperson, Nesisa Mpofu told the latest edition of our sister paper, Sunday News.

“The Dams’ Old Rule states that one should evaluate storage at the end of March, if insufficient to get through 21 months, impose rationing or water shedding.

Shedding was postponed to accommodate the April national events (National Independence and Zimbabwe International Trade Fair,” she said.

“The supply-demand gap is continuously increasing and therefore to manage available water resources till next rain season, shedding will be introduced from June 2022 starting off with the 24-hour programme.

This will be reviewed to 48 hours if consumption remains relatively high.”

We appreciate what council has done warning us ahead of time, but nothing prepares one for a life with no water for some a day or two every week.

It will be yet another difficult time for Bulawayo residents over the next few months, a time which could be more difficult as there is a possibility that a dam or two more could be decommissioned by the time of effective rains in the summer.

If that happens, their time without running water would be extended.

There are seldom any rains in the season we are now in.

It will be cold and dry thus unlikely that there would be any significant flows into Mzingwane to forestall its decommissioning as scheduled next month.

The disconnection of Upper Ncema will, as Mrs Mpofu, be determined by how Bulawayo residents use water over the next few months.

It is therefore in the best interests of Bulawayo residents to ensure that their local authority maintains the water shedding period at what looks like the inevitable 24 hours.

For that to happen, water consumption must be low.

Residents must use water sustainably so that they don’t condemn themselves to a longer period of dry taps.