shloboe boe
Raymond Jaravaza, [email protected]
THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has launched citywide consultations with residents and other stakeholders on the feasibility of entering into an agreement to purchase raw water from the proposed Bopoma Glassblock Dam.
The dam, touted as a medium-term solution to Bulawayo’s perennial water shortages, will be located in the Upper Umzingwane catchment area.
With a capacity of 129 million cubic metres and a daily yield of 68 megalitres, Bopoma Glassblock Dam is set to become the city’s second-largest water supply source after Insiza Dam, which has a capacity of 173 million cubic metres and a daily yield of 46 megalitres.
Public consultations began last weekend across various wards and will continue until residents have had ample opportunity to deliberate and decide whether BCC should proceed with the water purchase agreement.
The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development awarded the Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) tender for the dam’s construction to JR Goddard Contracting in 2019. Once completed, the dam will increase Bulawayo’s total raw water capacity to 543 million cubic metres, up from the current 414 million cubic metres, sourced from six supply dams and the Nyamandlovu Aquifer A.
Addressing a stakeholder meeting at the Large City Hall, BCC acting director of water and sanitation, Engineer Kwanele Sibanda, highlighted the importance of the proposed dam.
He said the dam will harness water downstream from the Umzingwane River, where the city is not currently utilising resources.
“The dam will be situated in the Upper Mzingwane catchment area, where the city is currently not harnessing water downstream from Umzingwane River. The City of Bulawayo has been identified as the major user of water from the Bopoma Glassblock Dam, so the reason for these consultative meetings is for the council to get authorisation from residents and other stakeholders to enter into a water purchase agreement with the owners of the dam,” he said.
“The City of Bulawayo will be the primary user of the water from the dam, in the same way that we draw water from Mtshabezi, which is owned by the Government and managed by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority.”
Under the agreement, the city will pay US$0,90 per cubic metre for raw water during the first 10 years of the repayment period. The cost will be reduced to US$0,70 per cubic metre for the following 15 years.
Comparatively, BCC at the moment pays US$0,29 per cubic metre for water from the Mtshabezi Dam and US$0,51 from the Nyamandlovu Aquifer.
Eng Sibanda noted that the cost of treated water for residents would rise by US$0,16 per kilolitre, increasing the current tariff from US$1,22 to US$1,38 per kilolitre. A kilolitre equals 1 000 litres.
BCC chamber secretary Mrs Sikhangele Zhou, emphasised that the council is not involved in constructing the dam but is exploring options to secure additional water sources.
“We are not involved in the construction of the dam but BCC has been identified as the biggest potential buyer of the water. We are here today to ask residents that in the event that the water from the proposed new dam is made available to us, will the people of Bulawayo be willing to buy that water,” she said.
Mrs Zhou said residents must decide whether to support the water purchase agreement or continue relying on private suppliers during droughts.
“The existing supply dams no longer meet the demand, even when full. The city has grown significantly over the years and the last supply dam, which is Mtshabezi was built in 1994 and the fact is, we need another water source,” she said.
Bulawayo, the second-largest city with nearly one million residents, faces ongoing water challenges due to rapid urban growth and climate change. The proposed Bopoma Glassblock Dam offers a potential lifeline, but its viability depends on the outcome of the ongoing consultations.
