Sebakwe Dam is a dam in the
Midlands Province
Midlands is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of and a population of 1,614,941 (2012). It is home to various peoples. Located at a central point in the country, it contains speakers of Shona, Ndebele, Tswana, Sotho and Chewa, as well as of ...
of
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
. It was built in 1957 and owned by the Zimbabwe government. It is across
Sebakwe River in the
Sanyati Catchment Area.
It has a full capacity of 266
megalitres
The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). ...
which makes it one of the largest inland dams of
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
. It is 8 kilometres long and its maximum width is 2.5 kilometres;
The surface area is 2320 hectares; Its wall is 47 m high and 3 km long.
Background
It was built as a small dam in 1957 and was raised 1986.
In 1957 Sebakwe Dam was the second largest dam in
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...
. Its height then was 154 feet high (47 meters). covering an area of 9 square miles (2320 ha) with a capacity of 35 billion imperial gallons.
Operations
It supplies water to
Kwekwe and
Redcliff, and for irrigation.
[Rhodesia's Dams, 9 November20]
Rhodesian Heritage: Rhodesia's Dams, SEBAKWE DAM (1957) For water supply of Que Que and for irrigation. Owner: Rhodesia Government. Engineering: Ministry of Water Development.
rhodesianheritage, Retrieved 5 March 3016
See also
•
Sebakwe River
*
Globe and Phoenix Mine
*
Gaika Mine
The Gaika Mine, now known as the Gaika Gold Fields, is situated in what was Chicago Farm just about south of Kwekwe CBC. The Gaika Mine was the earliest mine developed in 1894, then Globe and Phoenix in 1895-1900, the Eldorado in 1905, the Ant ...
*
Kwekwe
References
{{Dams and Reservoirs
Dams in Zimbabwe
Dams completed in 1957
1957 establishments in Southern Rhodesia