Water shedding looms in Byo

the “problem.”
He therefore took many residents aback when he said he would not be surprised if the city implemented water shedding soon.
Water shedding is a system whereby water is cut to certain areas in the city for a number of hours, to conserve supplies.
It was last implemented in Bulawayo at the height of water shortages in 2007.
It is different from water rationing in which water would always be available but a restriction is placed on the amount consumed. There are penalties if one exceeds certain limits.  
“There is a real crisis this time. By June, we have to make sure the Mtshabezi-Umzingwane pipeline is completed and the city starts accessing water from Mtshabezi Dam. Otherwise, there will be a disaster,” said Minister Sipepa Nkomo.
Asked why he was departing from his usual stance of insisting that the water problems in Bulawayo were exaggerated, Minister Sipepa Nkomo said for the first time, the situation was as serious as the city fathers described it to be.
“Yes, all along, the situation was blown out of proportion. However, now it is critical. The Mtshabezi-Umzingwane pipeline will be complete without fail by June. There are a few things left to be done and work is on schedule,” he said.
Minister Sipepa Nkomo dismissed the idea of having a backup plan for the city, in case the pipeline was not completed on time, saying there was no need to look at other measures as completion of the pipeline would meet the deadline.
Mtshabezi Dam was completed in 1994.
It has been lying idle ever since, as the completion of a pipe linking it to Umzingwane Dam to enable its water to be pumped in Umzingwane from where it would be pumped into the city’s reservoirs, has been postponed numerous times over the past 18 years.
Mtshabezi Dam’s capacity is 52,2 million cubic metres.
Once harnessed, it will be the city’s sixth supply dam and the third largest, after Insiza and Inyankuni.
The other three dams are Upper Ncema, Umzingwane and Lower Ncema.
The pipeline has always been touted as the short-term solution to Bulawayo’s water problems.
Bulawayo’s director of engineering services, Eng Simela Dube, is on record saying water rationing could not be lifted in the city before the completion of the pipeline.
The National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project, which was first mooted in 1912, is viewed as the permanent solution.
On 5 December 2010, Bulawayo City Council announced a water shedding schedule that it never implemented, as rains fell at the last minute.
In February, Eng Dube said water shedding was imminent after the city’s five supply dams had a collective inflow of only two percent of their holding capacity during the last rainy season.
The city is said to be operating with a deficit of about four dams, as an additional supply dam is supposed to be constructed after every 10 years.
The last supply dam to be constructed and used by the city was Insiza in 1976.