Manyuchi Dam forms a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

on the Mwenezi River in southern

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 located in the Mwenezi District. The building of the dam was financed by the Mwenezi Development Corporation. The dam was built to irrigate oil palm estates.

History

The dam was built by International Construction Zimbabwe (ICZ), a division of the southern African construction giant Murray and Roberts, and was completed in 1988. The dam is located in the Mwenwezi River Valley in the middle section of the river. The area is flat and dry and semi-arid with countless dome-shaped mountains and kopjes in which troops of baboons roam at will. When it was built, a number of villages where displaced and forced to relocate by the government to distant places like the area between

Ngundu Ngundu is a village in Chivi District in Masvingo Province in Zimbabwe. Pre-1950 Ngundu Halt was a stopping point for the Rhodesia Railways Road Motor Service, or RMS. There was a small roof topped structure with a secure door where the mail ...

and Chiredzi (District), where they suddenly found themselves labelled illegal settlers by local officials.

Physical characteristics

The dam was built in a gorge that the Mwenezi River makes when passing through the mountains close to the

bucolic A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depict ...

village of

Magomana Magomana is a small village located in Mwenezi (District). A string of mountains separates it from the main wall of Manyuchi Dam, less than five miles away in the north. The village is found on a watershed within the Maranda, Zimbabwe, Maranda com ...

. The area is dominated by mountains and

kopjes An inselberg or monadnock () is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, a ...

. It is an arch dam with a gross head that stands at 25 m in height. The water level in the dam reached the

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure t ...

crest for the first in 1996.

Ecology

The river once boasted of hippos, but now they are gone. Instead the dam is riven with crocodiles.

Nile crocodile The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the central, eastern ...

s have killed a number of villagers fishing in the dam. There are several species of fish found in the dam, mostly in the family of

tigerfish Tigerfish can refer to fish from various families, and derives from official and colloquial associations of these with the tiger (''Panthera tigris''). However, the primary species designated by the name "tigerfish" are African and belong to the ...

found in

Lake Kariba Lake Kariba is the world's largest artificial lake and reservoir by volume. It lies upstream from the Indian Ocean, along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Lake Kariba was filled between 1958 and 1963 following the completion of the Kariba ...

. The dam's lifespan is under threat from the upstream dwellers, especially those in Mataga and districts in

Zvishavane Zvishavane (known until 1982 as Shabani) is a mining town in Midlands Province, Zimbabwe. Surrounded by low hills, it lies west of Masvingo, on the main Bulawayo-Masvingo road. Other roads lead from Zvishavane to Gweru, north, and Mberengwa, ...

who till in the catchment of the dam producing silt.

Uses

Electricity Generation

Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) has long had plans to generate electricity from the dam but nothing has come of it due to shortage of funding. Studies show, however, that the water availability should make it possible to drive two 350-kilowatt turbines 6 000 hours per year, so as to generate 4.2 gigawatthours per year.

Irrigation

The Manyuchi dam in Zimbabwe was designed to irrigate an agroindustrial complex (2,000 hectares of sugar cane), 40 km downstream from the dam. The dam is to be used primarily to meet irrigation needs. The local population have tried to start irrigation projects using the water from the dam, but lack of funding has derailed their efforts, especially those in nearby

village. It was built to provide water for irrigation for both the commercial and rural irrigation schemes. To date, only the commercial farmers have benefited. None of the 3,476 hectares which were to have been irrigated for the small farmers has been developed. In 1995, at the height of a severe drought in the district and nationally, the dam was over 80 percent full and benefiting only a few large scale commercial farmers. Lately there has been talk of Lapache Irrigation Scheme, a project funded by both the government, Triangle Sugar Ltd and a consortium of non-governmental organizations. The scheme represents the first major step towards the utilization of water from the dam to benefit local communities.Expansion to cost 500 billio

accessed 19 February 2008) Beneficiaries shall mainly be resettled farmers on the Lapache Farm.

Recreation

Previously tourists would go to the area for fishing and other activities. But these days, it is difficult to get there, the roads have been washed away, and one would need a four-wheel drive vehicle to access it.

In popular culture

The dam features in local folklore.

Image gallery

File:Homestead Magomana.jpg, Typical village homestead in communities that live on the edge of the dam File:Flame Lily.jpg, The national flower along the edges of the dam. File:Nyala Tree Manyuchi.jpg, View around the dam File:Cattle Manyuchi.jpg, Cattle herding Duty for a boy from nearby

village

References

External links

Environmental Issues and Prospects for Southern African Regional Co-operation
{{coord, 21, 04, 24, S, 30, 22, 56, E, type:landmark_region:ZW, display=title Dams in Zimbabwe Tourist attractions in Masvingo Province Buildings and structures in Masvingo Province Mwenezi (District) Dams completed in 1988 1988 establishments in Zimbabwe