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Elita Chikwati Senior Agriculture Reporter
The national dam level average is now at 91,7 percent, as the country’s major water bodies continue to fill up due to rains that have been falling in various areas.
As at February 11, Mazowe Dam had remained below half of its design capacity at 38,5 percent.
Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) corporate communications and marketing manager, Mrs Marjorie Munyonga on Tuesday said water levels in Mazowe Dam had remained low owing largely to the poor rains and low inflows from its catchment area.
“Dams around the same area, for instance Jumbo Dam, are also very low at 58,9 percent,” she said.
“However, for Mazowe, the dam has this year received better inflows compared to the past season.
“Since October 1, 2021, Mazowe Dam has gained 22,7 percent which is quite significant considering that the dam, whose utilisation levels are also very high, had dropped to as low as 16,6 percent by the beginning of the current wet season.
“Very few dams may have surpassed Mazowe Dam in terms of inflows in terms of what was stored at the end of March 2021.”
According to the latest statistics from Zinwa, dams supplying urban areas are among the major gainers in the past week with Sebakwe, Chivero, Gwenoro and Amapongokwe spilling.
Mzingwane Dam, which supplies the city of Bulawayo, is on the decline and stood at 8,9 percent down from 9 percent on February 7.
Mrs Munyonga said while the water in the dams was sufficient to meet the domestic and summer irrigation needs, farmers involved in summer irrigation were advised to approach their respective service centres and sign water abstraction agreements as required by law.
The country is still expecting more rainfall as it is still in the La Nina phase which is associated with above-normal rainfall in Zimbabwe, while the El Nino phase which brings below-normal rainfall is expected to intensify from April onwards.
Online Reporter