Glassblock Dam set to offer relief to Bulawayo’s water crises

By Nobukhosi Ndlovu

The Glassblock Dam, a medium-term water supply project, to be developed in the Upper Umzingwane area in Matabeleland South has been proposed as a solution aimed at addressing Bulawayo’s persistent water challenges.

In an online engagement with the Centre for Innovation and Technology hosted on X yesterday, the Mayor of Bulawayo, His worship Senator David Coltart highlighted that the fruition of the Glassblock Dam would mean an answer to overcome the shortage of water in the city.

During the engagement, the mayor highlighted that the city currently needs 165 megalitres of water per day. However, due to ongoing challenges, it is only able to supply between 110 and 120 megalitres daily, with occasional drops to as low as 80 or 90 megalitres. Once the Glassblock Dam is completed, it is expected to add 70 megalitres per day, increasing total supply to about 180 megalitres per day.

The Mayor emphasized that while the Gwayi-Shangani dam remains the ultimate long term solution, the Glassblock Dam will provide relief with a shorter time frame and will allow the government the breathing space needed to adequately focus on the demands of the Gwayi-Shangani dam.

The Glassblock dam project is being implemented through a public-private partnership (PPP), where interests from the African Development Bank and Standard Bank of South Africa have been notable. Currently, there is still remaining paperwork left to be concluded for an agreement to be reached by all relevant parties.

“We continue to have discussions with the African Development Bank even in the last few weeks. The African Development Bank understands the necessity for this dam and they are totally in support for it. I’m hopeful that once we have reached agreement internally, with government and the consortium, that funding will be made available quickly. The cost of the dam remains US$98 million, with existing pledges of US$93 million,” he said.

A Bulawayo resident, Tsepang who was present during the online engagement posed a question on how the Bulawayo City Council intends to safeguard residents from expensive tarrifs so that they continue being able to access affordable water.

“Considering that there are private players that are coming on board and us the residents will have to jointly pay the money, what measures are in place to protect residents when we look at issues of tarrifs,” he asked.

Responding to his question, the mayor noted that the cost of building the dam is more than the cost of building the dams being currently used and are depriciating which also means a low cost in water charges as opposed to a new dam.

“We anticipate that the cost of water from Glassblock would be about 0.90cents. We have explained to residents that the net cost to residents would be 0.16cents. My answer to residents is think about the cost of the current chaos in not having water, think about the daily inconvinience, the health risk, think about the fact that the absence of water deters investors from coming into our city and what is that cost. It’s a hidden cost but it is a cost. It prevents development of our city,” he said.

With water scarcity in the city affecting women, who spend hours sourcing water for households, the dam will ease this burden. This will allow women to pursue education and business opportunities. It was also highlighted that the dam will not only provide reliable water supply, enhancing public health and livelihoods, particularly in high-density suburbs, but it will also offer climate adaptation benefits by increasing storage and capturing runoff that would otherwise be lost downstream.

Despite the noted solution, the mayor also acknowledged that the water problems that the community faces are multifaceted and would require multiple solutions.

“There is no single solution to this because we have got ageing infrastructure, infrastructure that has not been adequately maintained for decades, gold mining, and with the discovery of Lithium there are companies digging up entire river beds and it’s a huge problem,” he said.

The mayor highlighted that taking into consideration the multifaceted nature of the challenge, the answer does not only lie in Glassblock but in upgrading the Mtshabezi and Insiza pipelines, totally rehabilitating Ncema dam, and in running parallel awareness and educational campaigns during the construction of the dam.