GWERU is left with water supply that can barely sustain the city for a full two months at current consumption rates, a senior council official said yesterday. Stephen Chadenga OWN CORRESPONDENT
Assistant town clerk Tapiwa Marerwa said the city’s main water source, Gwenoro Dam was 1,2% full and the city now got 90% of its supplies from Amapongokwe Dam.
However, Marerwa said since there were challenges in drawing water from Amapongokwe, it meant the city was facing an imminent crisis.
“I don’t think we will reach end of November with taps running given the current situation,” he said. “Gwenoro Dam is at 1,2% and we can actually say it has naturally decommissioned itself.
“Amapongokwe is supplying the city with 90%, but only two of the pumps are fully functional.
“Residents have not changed their consumption rates and continue to fail to conserve the little that is available.”
Marerwa said the city would soon introduce rotational water shedding in order to preserve the water still available.
He said the city would also drill 31 boreholes once it secures a $138 000 loan facility needed for the project.
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“Our residents continue to behave as if everything is normal,” Marerwa said.
“Their consumption habits have not changed despite the dire water situation we are facing.
“There is need for tighter measures to conserve the little that is still there.”
Zimbabwe’s major cities – Harare and Bulawayo — face perennial water shortages because of government failure to invest in infrastructure since independence.
