Run-off water harvesting
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
DESPAIR, desolation and anguish grips communal farmers each time they look at their wilting crop and dying animals.
The farmers are already counting their losses as the 2015/2016 rainy season draws to an end with little to show. Water bodies like rivers and dams are either dry or drying.
Mkhulunyelwa Nkomo, a livestock farmer in Marula Ward in Matabeleland South Province, has witnessed successive seasons of droughts draining all local water bodies over the years.
His animals have no water for drinking and the pastures are dwindling by the day. Each day, Nkomo worries about his livestock.
“We definitely need dams because the little rains we received were wasted into Botswana as run off since our rivers such as Embakwe and Sanzukwi have no dams.
“We are likely to have a serious challenge feeding our cattle this year and at the moment we are thinking of how we can augment our scant water sources.
We are thinking of sinking boreholes. Our wish is for government to come in and help us develop water bodies or even sink boreholes as standby water sources in case of drought,” said Nkomo.
Most cattle farmers like Nkomo who rely on rain-fed agriculture are facing the same serious challenge of providing water for their livestock this year.
A number of rivers in districts like Bubi, Hwange, Binga, Lupane, Tsholotsho, Bulilima, Mangwe, Matobo, Gwanda, Mberengwa, Zimunya and Chivi hardly received significant inflows.
Most of them are choking from the deposited silt and sand that accumulated over the years, making it difficult for the rivers to accumulate water.
While the government is grappling with outsourcing grain to feed millions of drought-hit citizens, little is being done on water sustainability.
A snap survey in Matabeleland North province by The Chronicle showed that rivers such as Gwayi, Shangani, Matetsi, Lubangwe, Manzamnyama, Mbembesi and Inyantue hardly covered their beds with inflows this year.
Experts say owing to climate change challenges, it is time the country invested in water harvesting technology.
One way of doing that is by damming all rivers.
Rivers that need damming are Manza’mnyama, Maitengwe, Tekwane, Ramakgwebana, Embakwe, Shashe, Gomfi, Tuli, Shashane, Simukwe, Tegwani and Umguza, among others.
Some of these cut across the Midlands, Matabeleland South and North provinces.
There are few major dams in Matabeleland North and Midlands provinces while those in Matabeleland South are silted and primarily for Bulawayo City water supply.
“The government plans for irrigation projects to sustain food production can only be possible with sustainable water bodies,” says Nkomo.
Government says it is courting the private sector to invest in water harvesting as a drought mitigation strategy.
The Minister of State for Matabeleland North Province, Cde Cain Mathema, revealed that plans were underway to secure funding to reinvigorate efforts to construct dams and drill boreholes in the province.
“The government and President Mugabe take water harvesting seriously. However, illegal sanctions have been disturbing our progress.
The government has plans to develop dams and sink some boreholes in Matabeleland North and all we need is funding,” he said.
Cde Mathema said water infrastructure is a key part of Zim-Asset, hence the need to court development partners as the country seeks to avert the worst drought in 18 years.
He said he would soon lead a team from the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) and District Development Fund (DDF) to dam sites as part of the programme to improve the province’s water situation.
The government also wants to invest in sand abstraction especially on Manzamnyama and Shangani Rivers.
Cde Mathema said the government has ambitious plans to connect all rural households to piped water because, “akula khiwa elikotshozayo” (no white man drinks from a bush pump).
Environment, Water and Climate Minister Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri will soon be launching the national water harvesting programme as a way of encouraging Zimbabweans to embrace sustainable water methods during drought.
Zinwa spokesperson Marjorie Munyonga said once launched, the programme will cascade across the country.
Munyonga said Zinwa was committed to ensuring water sustainability in dry areas.
“The completion of the Bubi Lupane Dam in 2012 represents some of the major water infrastructure investments in the province. The dam will improve access to water for drinking, irrigation, mining and industry.
“Zinwa is always ready to play its part in water provision in the country and will be working closely with other government agencies to ensure sustainable water provision,” she said.
The immediate response to drought is borehole drilling.
Munyonga said water users countrywide are encouraged to preserve the resource in homes, fields and businesses in view of the current drought.
She said: “Irrigating farmers should also ensure they have water abstraction agreements, which is a legal requirement in terms of the Water Act. Government can also equip communities to do sand abstraction, with the help of organisations that focus on such activities”.
Cde Muchinguri-Kashiri recently said at least 12, 000 boreholes countrywide no longer produce water due to the low levels of the water table caused by perennial droughts.
She now expects most cities and towns to introduce strict water management strategies as sources are drying up in all the seven catchment areas, namely Mazowe, Runde, Save, Manyame, Sanyati, Gwayi and Mzingwane due to low rainfall patterns over the past five years.
Matabeleland North has 1, 775 non-functional boreholes, Matabeleland South (2, 087), Midlands (399), Masvingo (1, 327), Manicaland (1, 640), Mashonaland West (990), Mashonaland East (2,074) and Mashonaland Central (2, 699).
Cde Muchinguri-Kashiri said ground water levels were depleting faster because people turned to it as an alternative whenever municipal water is scarce.
Most dams do not have enough water to last the country until the next rainy season, with Bulawayo feeder dams less than 50 percent full.
In January, Zinwa reported that of the 21 catchment areas in the country, water levels from only 14 of them were more than 50 percent full while the others especially in the western parts of the country remained below average.
A water engineer said there was a need to expedite plans for construction of dams such as the Kunzvi Dam in Harare and Gwayi-Shangani Dam in Matabeleland North for supply of water to Bulawayo.
Dry water sources also affect livestock and wildlife.
Dean Roberts, proprietor of Drill Boy, said borehole drilling is the only panacea to water challenges at the moment.
He said demand for boreholes was high but there is no money for such projects.
“Boreholes drilling is the way to go and should be done in line with the international programme of managing underground water because only three percent of it is drinkable while the rest should be processed,” said Roberts.
“We need set guidelines to help people manage water because they are careless with deforestation and soil erosion.
We need to dam our rivers for best results,” said Roberts.
He said Matabeleland North has the deepest water table in the country at 80 metres on average.
Boreholes in Dete are 120m deep while in Victoria Falls they are around 135m deep.
In some instances the boreholes do not get sustainable supplies.
“Although water that is 100 metres deep is not influenced by rainfall, the water table still needs proper management for it not to dry up,” Roberts said.