dyton mupawaenda
Precious Manomano-Herald Reporter
The major dams of Zimbabwe now hold 87 percent of their combined capacity with the carryover from last season and the water that has flowed in so far this season, so all irrigation requirements can now be met this year.
As of Wednesday, the combined capacity had risen 7,9 percent in just two weeks in response to the heavy rainfall since the middle of last month.
In a statement, Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) corporate communications and marketing manager, Mrs Marjorie Munyonga, said the improvement in dam levels means improved water security for urban areas and farming communities.
Improvements in dam levels have been recorded in dams such as Ngwenya, Pollards, Exchange, Chivero, Manyame, Mzingwane, Upper Ncema, Zhovhe, Antelope, Manjirenji, Mutirikiwi, Amapongokwe, Claw, Bangala, Ruti, Siya, Gwenoro, Whitewaters, Manyuchi, Insiza, Upper Insiza, Marovanyati, Khami, Muchekeranwa, Seke and Tokwane.
But levels in some of major dams remain unchanged while others recorded declined in the past week.
Zinwa is closely monitoring inflows into and withdrawals from the dams and reminds all those using raw water from Zinwa dams to ensure their water use is in terms of water abstraction agreements in line with the law.
Those wishing to draw water from Zinwa dams must approach their nearest Zinwa office and sign agreements as no water shall be released to users without agreements.
Zinwa also encourages water users across the board to use the available water sparingly.
Statistics indicate that Claw Dam under Sanyati catchment is 101,8 full, Mutirikwi Dam under Runde catchment is 131,2 percent full, Khami Dam under Gwayi catchment is 99,1 percent, Exchange Dam under Gwayi catchment is 99,6 percent, Lake Chivero under Manyame catchment is 99,5 percent and Whitewaters under Sanyati catchment is now at 93,4 percent.
When a dam is more than 100 percent full this means that there is a solid flow of water over the spillway, and as inflows slow the percentage full will fall gradually to 100 percent.
Establishment of dams in rural areas dovetails with the Second Republic’s plan of industrialising rural areas and irrigation development to climate-proof agricultural production.
Zimbabwe has the capacity to irrigate over 220 000 hectares of crops this season using water from the dams and existing irrigation infrastructure and equipment, which will guarantee national food security and enhance the national strategic grain reserves in face of El Nino conditions that are bringing reduced rains this season.
Government is targeting 460 irrigation schemes towards maize as efforts to improve agricultural production are escalated to mitigate effects of climate change.
This season, about 90 000ha of potential irrigation have been identified for maize as the Government scale up efforts to boost food production in face of El Nino season.
Farmers are optimistic of boosting agricultural production following construction of dams by the Second Republic.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Permanent Secretary Professor Obert Jiri said every inch of irrigable land must be put under maize and traditional grains.
“We can also climate-proof through irrigation development on a larger scale. Among the 17 additional measures, we say irrigation development plays a key role and on irrigation, we say every inch of irrigable land must be put to our staple crop, maize, traditional grains and all these must be done under irrigation.
“We also want more irrigation schemes. Out of the 416 irrigation schemes we have in the country, about 331 were put under wheat last winter, which means that they are operational.
“These are things which we can do this season to ensure that every inch of irrigable land is put to cereal crop production; that way we can climate-proof to ensure food security,” said Prof Jiri.
Online Reporter