Govt should ensure reliable water supply

Editorial Comment
GWERU has become the latest city to introduce water rationing because its supply dams are no longer adequate for the growing population.

GWERU has become the latest city to introduce water rationing because its supply dams are no longer adequate for the growing population.

Gwenoro Dam, the city’s major supply dam, dried up last year and it has not recorded any significant inflows this rainy season.

Council now relies on Amaphongokwe and Whitewaters dams which have so far received little inflows despite a favourable rainy season.

Abstraction from the two dams is also limited by the infrastructure that was designed for low quantities of water.

According to Gweru City Council the water rationing regime will see each household in both low and high-density suburbs receiving 500 litres per day from February 1. Residents have been encouraged to monitor their daily water consumption to prevent water losses through leakages.

Council is also worried that despite the heavy rains received since the festive season, inflows into the supply dams have been very low.

Amaphongokwe is 42% full and Whitewaters is at 65%. Supply from Whitewaters is down to 2,5 megalitres from the usual 4,5 megalitres per day after two filters collapsed.

Gwenoro Dam has not received any meaningful water inflows either, the local authority says.

Strict water rationing could be a new phenomenon in Gweru, but it is no longer news for Bulawayo and Harare residents who have experienced it for so many years. The common denominator in these cities is that the government has hardly made any investment in water infrastructure since independence.

Harare and Bulawayo still heavily rely on dams that were built by the colonial government almost 34 years after we gained self-rule. However, the population of both cities has outgrown the supply dams hence the increased frequency at which they dry up, compelling councils to restrict usage of water.

This has resulted in deadly cholera and typhoid outbreaks especially in Harare where residents resorted to unprotected sources of water.

For Bulawayo, the water shortages have accelerated disindustrialisation and job losses. It is high time the government realised that its dreams of an economic turnaround would remain hollow unless it urgently invested in permanent water supply infrastructure for Harare, Gweru and Bulawayo.