Kunzvi Dam now 36 percent complete… set to alleviate Harare water woes

Construction of Kunzvi Dam in Mashonaland East province, which is touted as the panacea to the water challenges that the city of Harare faces is on course with the project now 36 percent complete, an official has said.

The dam, which is being built by a Chinese company, is situated 67 kilometres northeast of the capital, near Juru Growth Point on the Nyanguvi River, which separates Goromonzi and Murehwa districts in Mashonaland East province.

It is one of the 12 game changer dam projects that the government is implementing through the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA).

Zinwa corporate communications and marketing manager Marjorie Munyonga said dam construction was progressing smoothly.

“The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) wishes to advise the public and stakeholders that the construction of Kunzvi Dam, in Mashonaland East remains on course with the dam now 36 percent complete,” she said.

“Current work at the site includes excavation of the core trench, grouting on the core trench invert, backfill on the core trench, placing fill material on the fill zone and construction of a masonry downstream access bridge.

“Other works include the placement of riprap on the upstream slope, placing of coarse filter on the upstream slope, outlet trench excavation and construction of remaining houses at the ZINWA senior camp.”

Construction of the dam, which was first mooted in 1912 and has been shelved over the years due to financial challenges, began in 2021 and is expected to be completed at the end of 2024.

Kunzvi dam has been touted as the solution to Harare’s water problems as it is upstream of the city capital and treatment of its water will be less costly than for Lake Chivero, which is downstream and as a result, is heavily polluted from sewerage water and effluent from industries.

Due to the complete breakdown of the reticulation system, raw sewerage from residential areas and effluent from industries flows directly into Lake Chivero from which the city draws its water.

The Harare city council spends about US$3 million every month to buy more than 11 chemicals that it uses to treat water, which the residents have since condemned as it contains particles and turns greenish when left to settle.

Most residents now depend on boreholes which they have either dug at their premises or have been installed by humanitarian organisations to alleviate the situation and protect from water borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid which regularly break out in the city. New Ziana