The Sunday News
Government has mobilised US$7 million to avert a full-blown water crisis across the country after a harsh El Nino-induced summer in the 2015- 2016 period led to a drastic fall in water levels in major reservoirs in one of the worst droughts in living memory.
Environment, Water and Climate Permanent Secretary Prince Mupazviriho told journalists in Harare on Wednesday on the sidelines of a regional training course on the use of satellites for drought monitoring and agriculture meteorological applications, that the funds will target the most vulnerable people under the emergency water supply mitigation programme.
“Government has availed US$7 million to address the problem,” he said. “The money will come from the Treasury. It’s from the Government and its targeting to urgently address the water crisis facing the country.”
Zimbabwe is in the grip of the worst drought in decades and there has been a drastic dip in water levels at most dams and other water sources.
Currently, national dam storage levels are averaging 41,9 percent, about 20,4 percent below the normal average of 62,3 percent for this time of the year.
Diminishing water supply in dams, wells, boreholes and other sources has hit Harare, other major towns and cities and most rural areas, putting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in danger and risk of cholera besides other water borne diseases.
In some parts of the country, the situation has reached alarming levels as many people are going for days without any hope of water.
The devastating effects of the prolonged El Nino drought are now being felt across the country with humans and livestock facing severe water shortages.
Fears are that Zimbabwe could be hit by another cholera outbreak, similar or bigger than the 2008 one which claimed the lives of more than 4 000 people.
“It’s a national crisis and on Friday we are going to hold an urgent stakeholders meeting to try and find a solution to the crisis.
We are inviting all stakeholders — councillors, MPs, NGOs, local communities, catchment managers and everyone involved in the water sector — to come to the Parks and Wildlife Authority open ground for the meeting.
“Under the emergency water supply mitigation programme we will be targeting specific areas of need and we want the stakeholders to assist us in identifying those specific areas of need.”
Dams and most other water sources have dried up and people in various parts of the country are being forced to drink water from unprotected sources.
The water situation has become a national emergency and most local authorities have imposed various short-term measures to deal with the shortage.
Water in Bulawayo, the country’s second largest city, has reached dead storage level. This also plays for most other towns and rural districts lying in the drought-prone regions.
Ground water levels have plummeted in most areas. Mupazviriho said previously underground water could be reached at depths of 8 to 60 metres but now, water could only be reached at depths of up 120 or 140 metres.
In some towns, the situation is worse and many people no longer access piped supply, forcing some municipalities to supply water through tankers.
A snap shot by Zimpapers Syndication showed that young girls and women have been forced to take the risk of travelling long distances during the night to scavenge for water from whatever source in various parts of Harare, particularly in the capital’s poor suburbs. Residents in these areas could be seen all over looking for whatever could be seen as running water.
Acute drinking water shortages due to drastic fall in water levels in major reservoirs has sparked fears of waterborne diseases, forcing the Ministry of Health and Child Care to issue alerts.
Zimbabwe is reeling under a severe El Nino induced drought, which has seen water scarcity hitting not just the villages and towns but even the capital Harare, the commercial hub.
Harare is now left with five months’ supply of water.
The capital needs 800 megalitres of water a day and is currently able to pump slightly over half this amount.
This has forced the council to introduce water rationing.
Bulawayo has, since 1984, been under a permanent water rationing regime as the city struggles to save whatever amounts of water it has.
This week, the city decommissioned Umzingwane Dam due to low water levels, worsening the plight of residents under-going a strict water supply regime.
Upper Ncema Dam was decommissioned in July, leaving the city relying on Insiza, Inyankuni, Lower Ncema, and Mtshabezi which are holding an estimated 30,5 percent of their cumulative capacity.
Zimbabwe National Water Authority, the country’s water utility, has repeatedly warned that serious water shortages in some areas in the country are likely to persist owing to the prolonged drought.
In a recent report the water authority said: “While the responsibility to come up with cost effective and quickly implementable measures lies with Government, Zinwa and other relevant stakeholders in the water sector, the success of such measures is dependent on the commitment of all water users to practice water conservation.”
Despite facing financial constraints, Government has so far drilled 1 600 new boreholes, repaired 10 220 boreholes, rehabilitated 32 piped water schemes and provided 1 660 schools with latrines.
“In order to reduce the impact of the drought on communities relying on surface water for household use, water is being released from upstream dams to their communities,” Environment, Water and Climate Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri was quoted as saying in the media.
“This has already been done for Gwanda Town from Mtshabezi Dam, for Ngundu, Gororo and Lowveld from Muzhwi Dam.”
With the support of the World Bank, the Government has also been working to address the impact of climate change on the availability of water by integrating sustainable water development and management into the country’s National Climate Change Response Strategy (NCCRS) and into the proposed National Climate Policy.
Under the NCCRS, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) mobilised about US$4 million to support climate change initiatives to benefit up to 10 000 smallholder farmers in three districts in the country.
The UN agency says the fund will help to construct and rehabilitate dams, irrigation schemes, rainwater harvesting and boreholes drilling in Chimanimani and Buhera districts in Manicaland province and Chiredzi district in Masvingo province.
The project was launched in Mutare last year, with a US$1 million batch being released each year.
Experts say water continues to be undervalued and badly managed in Zimbabwe and most other parts of the world.
They say the symptoms of lack of attention can be seen everywhere. In addition, they say most countries do not adequately monitor either the quantity or the quality of water resources and wastewater in particular, and the monitoring of sanitation and drinking water also remains a challenge.
“Too many countries respond to water-related disaster emergencies but do not integrate water risks in development planning,” an expert noted in a UN report.
“Water is distressingly under-financed compared to other types of infrastructure. Lack of adequate access to drinking water and sanitation plagues billions of people, especially the poorest.”
By 2050, growing demand for cities and for agriculture would put water in short supply in regions where it is now plentiful — and worsen shortages across a vast swath of Africa and Asia, spurring conflict and migration, the bank said.
They urge Governments to fast-track institutional reforms, boost funding, eliminate corruption and strengthen capacities in their water services sectors. – Zimpapers Syndication.
