Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city, is in the grips of an acute water shortage crisis. Decreasing rainfall resulting in failing supplies has impeded efforts to bring water security to the city's 700,000 inhabitants. The demand for water continues to outstrip supply with the city currently receiving only a fraction of its daily requirements. At the beginning of 2014, water supply remained critical for residents in Bulawayo, after the city council relaxed water rationing (a short-term solution to preserve scarce supplies) over the holidays.
Bulawayo has a modest annual budget (US$156m in 2014) and a staggering unemployment rate of 90%. The Zimbabwe economy's collapse has compounded problems for the former industrial hub, and infrastructure has failed to develop as the city's population spikes. Siltation, crumbling water pipelines, and inadequate pumping capacity have undermined efforts to boost water supply from the Mtshabezi Dam. Two other dams: Inyankuni and Upper Ncema, were both decommissioned from supplying water to the city in 2013, because they were dry.
Water shedding - or controlled water cuts - combined with poor sanitation and exposed the city's residents to disease. A major cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe killed more than 4,000 people between 2008 and 2009, and typhoid cases reaching the thousands putting pressure on the county's ailing health system.
With most dam yields falling, water shortages and blanket rationing of supplies have forced some industries to relocate from a city where industrial activity has become almost non-existent. The gravity of Bulawayo's water situation desperately requires coherent medium to long-term answers.
The city's water challenges involve a potent mix of politics, geography and climatic challenges. A string of uncompleted and shelved water projects have led residents to feel marginalised as they accuse the government of stalling the ambitious US$600m Matabeleland Zambezi water project (initially mooted almost a century ago). While the scheme was envisioned to supply Bulawayo with water for its domestic and commercial needs from the Zambezi River, studies undertaken have largely been inconclusive save for suggesting that this would be a very expensive option.
New data to inform key decisions
In the past few years, Botswana has proposed to abstract water from the Zambezi to augment its north-south carrier. This alternative scheme would abstract water at a level 400m higher and run parallel, but 160km inside Botswanan territory.
In July 2013, the Climate Resilience Infrastructure Development Facility (CRIDF) commissioned a unique economic and engineering analysis (Bulawayo water supply options analysis study) to compare the two proposed schemes:
1. The Matabeleland Water Project, abstracting water from the Zambezi at Deka, downstream of Victoria Falls.
2. The Chobe/Zambezi Project in Botswana, abstracting water upstream of Victoria Falls.
CRIDF estimated the capital costs of each and determined the long-term costs of water in Bulawayo from either scheme. In October 2013, the study concluded that neither option demonstrated a viable, cost-effective, long-term solution. In the case of the Matabeleland Water Project, the energy required to pump water - approximately 800m uphill and 350km - from the river would translate to a cost of up to US$4 per cubic meter (compared to a national average of US$0.30) for Bulawayo's residents.
In March 2014, the government confirmed that the first phase of work on the Matabeleland Water Project had been paused due to budget constraints. Mr Eddie Cross, MP, "endorsed" the study highlighting that "it brings the knowledge on supply from the Zambezi up to date" and should be "circulated widely" for decision-making. The timing of CRIDF's analysis and data was therefore vital as decisions about costly alternative solutions were formerly being considered on little or out-dated information.
CRIDF's legacy in southern Africa
As a consequence of CRIDF's work, key stakeholders (such as the World Bank, GiZ, and the Bulawayo City Council) have undertaken to conduct further detailed investigations into alternative water sources for Bulawayo. To quote Rolfe Eberhart, a public policy specialist in the region, "the [CRIDF] study is very useful and adds new knowledge to assist a comparison of options." By clarifying long-term related economic and engineering questions, CRIDF is significantly contributing to the regional knowledge on shared resources in southern Africa.
Through its work, CRIDF is demonstrating the ability to inform key decisions on infrastructure planning, with the potential to catalyse more investment for the benefit of the region's food, energy, and water security.
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