Back to Index

Zimbabwe: 'Deforestation threat to Harare's water'
The Herald (Zimbabwe)
February 07, 2008

http://allafrica.com/stories/200802070067.html

Massive deforestation and poor land use have had negative long-term effects on Harare's water quality, quantity and supply, the Zimbabwe National Water Authority said yesterday.

In an interview, Zinwa spokesperson Mrs Marjory Munyonga said while the water authority was currently maintaining the water demand management strategy meant to ration and ensure equitable distribution of water in the city, there were other underlying factors currently posing threats to the sustainable water supply and quality.

"The rate of deforestation on the upstream of our major water sources is alarming and a major cause for concern. The illegal cutting down of trees causes soil to be washed down stream and cause siltation of our rivers and dams. "Vandalised manholes and the heavy rains currently being experienced in Harare have increased the load of sand in the water pipes and it is costing us dearly to de-sludge the soil," she said. Mrs Munyonga said the degradation of the watershed or river basin, which is an area on which surface water runs off through a common point, negatively affects the resource base.

"It is our mandate to raise awareness and let people understand that the protection of water sources underpins their long-term utilisation to ensure we maintain sufficient water quality and quantity to meet basic human and economic needs," said Mrs Munyonga. She said Zimbabwe as a whole was experiencing human induced watershed degradation due to various natural factors that include poor land use.

Mrs Munyonga said despite efforts by the Environmental Management Agency to nip in the bud environmental related offenders, some people continued cutting down trees, practising massive stream bank cultivation and water pollution, which causes the flourishing of alien plants.

Some conservationists have also indicated that immense pressure on land transforms soil structure and decreases the growth and flourishing of grasses and other shrubs that holds the soil together and reduce soil erosion. It is estimated that in Zimbabwe's communal lands, under grazing results in the loss of at least 75 tonnes of soil per hectare every year.

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP