Online Reporter
Trust Freddy
Herald Correspondent
ZIMBABWE will next week host a global gathering of water scientists as the University of Zimbabwe leads the 15th International Workshop on Statistical Hydrology and Groundwater (STAHY-ICGW 2026) from July 14-17, 2026.
This comes as hydrogeologists warn that Zimbabwe, particularly Harare, is extracting groundwater faster than it can be replenished, leading to falling water tables and boreholes at risk of running dry.
The workshop is a joint meeting of the International Commission on Statistical Hydrology and the International Commission on Groundwater under the International Association of Hydrological Sciences, which has 13 000 members in 170 countries.
In an interview, UZ Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Hodson Makurira confirmed that over 100 delegates from 28 countries across all five continents are expected at the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge.
Prof Makurira said the event was historic for the continent and the country.
“This is the third time that Africa is hosting the conference after Tunisia in 2012 and Ethiopia in 2015. This is also a unique event in the sense that two Commissions of IAHS are holding a combined event,” he said.
“For Zimbabwe, this is an honour to host this high-profile scientific event. The visitors will certainly have an opportunity to appreciate the warm Zimbabwean hospitality.”
The Pro Vice-Chancellor said Southern Africa’s water challenges would dominate discussions.
“The region is experiencing challenges relating to climate change which in turn impacts on the water balance. Water scarcity is increasing while extreme events such as droughts and floods are also increasing,” Prof Makurira said.
“Africa is generally data scarce and statistical approaches are important to scientifically fill in the gaps.”
Other focus areas include groundwater depletion, deteriorating water quality, water allocation, and infrastructure resilient to extreme events.
Conference themes will cover extreme events, forecasting, drought analysis, groundwater management, scaling approaches, subsurface processes and big data applications.
UZ is a member of the Scientific Committee and was involved in designing conference themes, quality control of presentations, and chairing sessions. The university will also synthesise workshop outcomes.
Zimbabwean researchers, government agencies and student scientists will present papers at the event.
Prof Makurira said Zimbabwe stood to benefit directly from the knowledge exchange.
“Zimbabwean water scientists, policy makers and practitioners will have an opportunity to share experiences with other global water experts. The young water professionals will benefit from a global audience that may help to sharpen their research focus,” he said.
“Strong collaboration and partnership between various institutions will be realised during this event.”
A SADC study on underground water drought risk has identified Zimbabwe, and Harare in particular, as the most vulnerable due to heavy reliance on groundwater.
Data from a survey of 60,000 water points showed that only 30 percent supply water year-round. A further 60 percent are seasonal and run dry during the hot season.
The study also found that wells which were highly productive 70 years ago are now completely dry, even after deepening. Many older, shallower boreholes that were once gushers have also become dry holes unless re-drilled to significantly greater depths.
Conference organisers say the upcoming workshop will assess such cases and explore possible solutions.
