Bulawayo dam levels still low

WATER inflows into Bulawayo supply dams remain low despite the recent rains with the overall level for the six supply dams at 49.69 percent as of Monday 24 February 2025.

This is despite some dams in other parts of the country already full and spilling.

According to the latest dam levels from the City of Bulawayo, Mtshabezi Dam has the highest inflow currently at 79.74 percent and Insiza Dam at 56.29 percent. UMzingwane Dam is at 48.72 percent, Lower Ncema at 26.18 percent full while Upper Ncema stands at 54.06 percent.

Inyankuni Dam has the lowest percentage of 19.57 percent.

The global percentage increase to date due to the rains this season is 26.36% of overall dam capacity. Upper Ncema dam gates were opened to release water into Lower Ncema which had reached a critical low of 9.26% on Wednesday. 12ln of February 2025.

The council, however, highlighted that the low dam level indicated that the water levels in the reservoirs were significantly lower than desired.

The low water levels result in reduced head, affecting water gravitation and pumping outputs to fill the reservoirs.

The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa), however, announced last week that some of the country's major dams were now full following the recent rains except for those in the Matabeleland region.

The authority highlighted that most dams were receiving substantial inflows following the rains that were experienced in the past week throughout the country.

They further said they were monitoring inflows into the various dams. Due to the shortage of water in most parts of the country, consumers have resorted to drilling boreholes.