Lake Mutirikwi, formerly known as Lake Kyle or Kyle Dam, lies in south eastern
Zimbabwe, south east of
Masvingo. It is thought to have been named Lake Kyle, from the Kyle farm which occupied most of the land required for the lake, which in turn was named after the Kyle district in Scotland from which the pioneer of the Lowveld, Tom Murray MacDougall came originally.
The lake covers about 90 km² (35 sq mi) and was created in 1960 with the construction of the
Kyle Dam
Kyle or Kyles may refer to:
Places
Canada
* Kyle, Saskatchewan, Canada
Ireland
* Kyle, County Laois
* Kyle, County Wexford
Scotland
* Kyle, Ayrshire, area of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern-day East Ayrshire and South Ayrshi ...
on the
Mutirikwi River. The dam was built by
Concor to provide water to the farming estates on the lowveld to the southwest, around the town of
Triangle, where the main crop has been sugar cane.
Lake Kyle Recreational Park
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...
lies on the
reservoir's northern shore, while there is a small recreational park on the southern shore.
Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe is a medieval city in the south-eastern hills of Zimbabwe near Lake Mutirikwi and the town of Masvingo. It is thought to have been the capital of a great kingdom during the country's Late Iron Age about which little is known. Con ...
national monument lies close by.
Rivers which feed the
lake include the
Mbebvi River,
Matare River,
Pokoteke River,
Umpopinyani River,
Makurumidze River and
Mushagashe River.
In the 1980s,
drought drastically lowered the
water level in the lake, but during the 1990s it recovered. The level fluctuates widely due to irrigation demands and the seasonal rainfall.
References
External links
Lake Kyle Recreational Park
{{Authority control
Geography of Masvingo Province
Mutirikwi, Lake
Masvingo