BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) says the Nyamandlovu aquifer is operating below capacity due to non-functional boreholes.
Bulawayo residents last week implored the local authority to prioritise resuscitating boreholes at the aquifer to alleviate the water crisis in the city.
Mayor David Coltart told Southern Eye that the local authority has no control over the aquifer.
“We have been asking the Zimbabwe National Water Authority to resuscitate Nyamandlovu boreholes and upgrade security, but it is still operating way below its design capacity. Unfortunately, because we do not own the infrastructure, unlike our dams, we have no control over how it operates,” Coltart said.
“We have taken advice from experts on how it is possible to increase its capacity, but once again because we do not own it and it is beyond the city’s boundaries, we have no power to expand its capacity in this way.”
Coltart, however, said the aquifer could not satisfy the city’s demands.
“So while this is a good theoretical option in practice, it depends on government will to address the issue,” he said.
“However, even if this is addressed, there are major environmental concerns linked to expanding the capacity of the Nyamandlovu aquifer and it is that there is no clear science about how it replenishes and this is a critical study which needs to be done prior to us drawing vast quantities of water from the aquifer,” the mayor said.
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“So once again, it is, with respect, misplaced to think that Nyamandlovu aquifer can provide Bulawayo’s water needs on an environmentally sustainable and responsible manner going forward.”
The Gwayi-Shangani Dam project, mooted in 1912, is seen as a lasting solution to the city’s perennial water crisis.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa pledged to ensure the project is completed ahead of the 2023 elections.
However, since then, several deadlines have been missed.
