Bulawayo City Council (BCC) says it is implementing initiatives to mitigate the effects of climate change ahead of the rainy season.
Climate change is a variation in the weather patterns and over the past years, Zimbabwe has borne the brunt – such as drought, floods or high temperatures.
In an interview with CITE, Tuesday, BCC Director of Engineering Services, Simela Dube, said the local authority was advising residents to change their attitudes towards water usage.
“In response to climate change let’s change our habits in terms of water usage because this is what is within the council’s control,” noted Eng. Dube.
He said following the city’s growth, more water reservoirs were expected to match residents demand.
“Looking at climate change in this natural growth we now require more water than what our current dams can actually provide.
“But in terms of the city’s supply requirements that is actually the responsibility of Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) which at the moment I am sure you have heard about work at the Gwayi-Shangani Dam. This is an example of the climate change initiatives we are looking at,” he said.
Eng. Dube added that the local authority was also working on partnerships to recycle industrial water.
“More so, as a city we are also looking at re-using water where we are looking at partnering with the Zimbabwe Power Company to recycle water from Khami Dam for industrial use so that industry can substitute use of clean water with secondary recycled water. ”
He added, “we have been actually asking partners to also look at water harvesting.
“So these are initiatives that Bulawayo is looking at in response to climate change. When building a house dig a gutter or possibly put a JoJo tank to harvest water when raining. The water may not last long forever but it’s conservation and harvesting before it spills out from the yard into rivers.”
The city’s engineer said water harvesting was a practical initiative that should be supported by Non-Governmental Organisations and other institutions.
“Tertiary institutions should also be looking at such initiatives to actually implement within their areas and they must harvest water too,” Eng. Dube urged.
