Zinwa’s six inter-related divisions

deliver on its mandate the authority has created six inter-related divisions.
The six departments, which have qualified and experienced human resource to successfully deliver on their core mandates, are Planning Division, Data and Research, Design and Construction, Ground Water, Quality Assurance and Operations Division.
Over the years, each of the departments have scored their own feats and left indelible footprints in water management culminating in the Authority being crowned the best in Africa.
Planning Division
This division is one of the most visible to our stakeholders. It interfaces with all bulk water users who require individual water permits and agreements to engage in their enterprises.
The division is the Authority’s arm involved in implementing our statutory obligations such as ensuring that stakeholders are complying with the Water Act, national water policy and strategy requirements in relation to water resources planning, development and management.
More importantly, the division centrally manages the issuance of water permits and agreements to all users.
This function may seem less important to the casual observer. However, this is the nerve centre of ensuring equitable water distribution and water demand management as the year goes through its ebullient natural seasons.
Without this department there would be chaos as some people would draw more than their fair share of the crucial and finite resource especially during drought years.
Data and Research
Research and data archiving plays a central role in the successful implementation of any project.
An organisation needs the historical information for proper planning of any future activities.
To that end, data and research plays an invaluable role in planning our water demand management, distribution and need to create new dams, weirs or boreholes in areas of high water demand.
The division captures archives and disseminates data on both surface and groundwater resources’ availability and ensures equitable allocation of the resource.
Design and Construction
The design and construction division actualises all the planning the Authority does by making sure that new water conservation works are done properly and timely in line with resource availability.
Over the years since the Authority’s creation in pre-independence era to date the division has been involved and completed a number of small and large dam projects across the country.
The division’s portfolio boasts of such exquisite works such as the Osborne dam in Mutare, the ongoing Mtshabezi and Gwayi-Shangani dams, Tokwe-Mukosi, Matezva, Wenimbi, Mutange and a variety of weirs and irrigation canals in schemes dotted across rural Zimbabwe.
The division also offers engineering advice and consultancy services to private dam projects.
Ground Water
The concept of ground water and its impact on the hydrological patterns in the country has never been fully appreciated by stakeholders.
This lack of basic appreciation by most water users is exhibited by the nefarious drilling of wells and boreholes across Zimbabwe by people without permits.
However, the Water Act is very clear that the water authority has sole jurisdiction over water management in the country, both surface and underground resources.
The division performs statutory functions through the investigation of ground water resources in the country in terms of their locations, potential volumes and yields. It also monitors the quality of ground water.
Quality Assurance
Zinwa is very careful and concerned about the quality of water it avails to stakeholders.
To that end the Authority has a quality assurance department. The division performs a statutory function through ensuring that the quality of both clear and raw water.
It also recommends water treatment chemicals. The division also ensures that the authority adheres to laid-down environmental standards.
Water pollution and treatment are at the centre of delivering a quality product. So frequently the department does quality spot checks in dams, weirs and rivers.
It also gives advice on the types and quantity of water treatment chemicals that can be used to treat water for industrial, domestic and agricultural use.
Operations Division
This division has the onerous task of providing portable water to small towns, growth points, service centres, schools and hospitals.
The department supplies water to areas like Murombedzi, Mhangura, Karoi, Mtoko, Beitbridge, Gwanda and other small towns.
At one point, the Authority was mandated by Government to provide water and sewerage service management to all towns and cities.
The temporary arrangement had its own benefits like exposing the Authority to a national first hand view of the country’s water needs.
To ensure smooth operations of the authority, it created seven catchments to manage the water areas.
These are Runde, Manyame, Mazowe, Save, Gwayi, Mzingwane and Sanyati. Each catchment area is headed by an engineer and has representatives from all stakeholders in the constituency.
These among others are farmers, industrialists and miners. This creates a platform for the stakeholders to jointly make decisions that result in equitable distribution of water.