cultural and environmental factors, as noted
below. Interactions between water users and
water point committees (WPCs) are a function of
the season. During the dry season, (late Augustearly November), temperatures soar especially in
the drier southern parts of the basin.
Consequently, rivers, streams, shallow wells
and even boreholes dry up. Due to scarcity of
water, community members start to converge at
the few available water points such as boreholes
from as early as 4 O’clock in the morning.
Because of the resulting high water demand at
these points, petty conflicts and squabbles are
inevitable, often arising where community
members attempt to jump the queue. At some
boreholes, especially in the drier parts of the
catchment where water shortages are severe,
timetables for water fetching have been set up. In
order to ensure equitable access to water in such
areas, communities have developed rules to limit
the amount of water that a household is allowed
to fetch at any one moment. The boreholes are
locked at certain times of the day in order to
conserve water, thus ensuring that every household has access to drinking water while at the
same time preventing the misuse of the facility,
especially by children.
At these times, queues will be relatively
shorter and it will be cool enough for them to
walk long distances (of up to 10 km in some
cases) to fetch clean water in groups (Plate 4.2
and Box 1).
1
Plate 4.1 Typical contour ridge configuration, Njerere village
1
Basin community members in the dry resettlement areas
like Angus, Humani and Matendere ranches expressed
dissatisfaction with water availability. In these areas,
protected water sources are scarce and hardly reachable
for some households. This means that they spend a lot of
time scavenging for safe clean water. Here women wake
up at dawn (around four o’clock in the morning) or wait
until dusk (after seven O’clock in the evening) to access
water. The resettlement areas were set up during
Zimbabwe’s recent land reform programme, which led
to the transfer of land from whites to landless black
4 Integrated Water Resources Management in Southern Africa …
35
below. Interactions between water users and
water point committees (WPCs) are a function of
the season. During the dry season, (late Augustearly November), temperatures soar especially in
the drier southern parts of the basin.
Consequently, rivers, streams, shallow wells
and even boreholes dry up. Due to scarcity of
water, community members start to converge at
the few available water points such as boreholes
from as early as 4 O’clock in the morning.
Because of the resulting high water demand at
these points, petty conflicts and squabbles are
inevitable, often arising where community
members attempt to jump the queue. At some
boreholes, especially in the drier parts of the
catchment where water shortages are severe,
timetables for water fetching have been set up. In
order to ensure equitable access to water in such
areas, communities have developed rules to limit
the amount of water that a household is allowed
to fetch at any one moment. The boreholes are
locked at certain times of the day in order to
conserve water, thus ensuring that every household has access to drinking water while at the
same time preventing the misuse of the facility,
especially by children.
At these times, queues will be relatively
shorter and it will be cool enough for them to
walk long distances (of up to 10 km in some
cases) to fetch clean water in groups (Plate 4.2
and Box 1).
1
Plate 4.1 Typical contour ridge configuration, Njerere village
1
Basin community members in the dry resettlement areas
like Angus, Humani and Matendere ranches expressed
dissatisfaction with water availability. In these areas,
protected water sources are scarce and hardly reachable
for some households. This means that they spend a lot of
time scavenging for safe clean water. Here women wake
up at dawn (around four o’clock in the morning) or wait
until dusk (after seven O’clock in the evening) to access
water. The resettlement areas were set up during
Zimbabwe’s recent land reform programme, which led
to the transfer of land from whites to landless black
4 Integrated Water Resources Management in Southern Africa …
35