LOCAL and international tourists who visited Lake Mutirikwi (which lies south east of Masvingo) during its heyday would today probably not recognise the site because of deterioration that climate change and time have brought on this once tourist marvel.
Many people still visit the dam wall and marvel at the great man-made wonder which still has water flowing through its gates and presents quite an attraction.
They are, however, oblivious that what remains are just folklores of a place that once provided recreational facilities for visitors.
A recent media tour held by the Forestry Commission of Lake Mutirikwi (from the Sikato Bay, Kyle Recreational Park and the dam wall) revealed how the negative impacts of climate change and human activity have resulted in low water levels.
Rusted boats, grazing cows and fishermen who could be seen dotted on the dry lakeside made it seem untrue that Sikato Bay was once part of the 90 square kilometre lake.
Lake Mutirikwi, formerly known as Lake Kyle is believed to have been named after the Kyle district in Scotland from which pioneer of the Lowveld Tom Murray MacDougall originally came from.
When Kyle Dam was built on the Mutirikwi River in the 1960s, it was meant to provide irrigation water to the sugar cane farming estates on the Lowveld to the southeast, around the town of Triangle over 100 kilometres away.
Lake Mutirikwi, which is supposed to be the second largest expanse of open water in Zimbabwe after Kariba has the Mbebvi River, Matare River, Pokoteke River, Umpopinyani River, Makurumidzei River and Shagashe River feeding into it.
The lake together with Rusape Dam, Siya Dam in Mazungunye, Bangala Dam and Manjerenje Dam were also built for the purposes of irrigating the sugar cane in Chiredzi.
Once finished, Tokwe Mukorsi Dam will also provide water for irrigation purposes for the Lowveld among other uses.
These sugarcane estates have provided sugar for household consumption, industrial applications and export since time immemorial.
Since the 1970s, Zimbabwe produced bio-ethanol for blending with petrol and governments and bio-fuel investors have explored and implemented more inclusive models that emphasise on employment creation and economic empowerment in sugarcane feedstock production and downstream business based on smallholder out-grower schemes.
Southern Africa being a net importer of energy in the form of fossil fuels, the introduction of bio-fuels industry would therefore potentially reduce the region’s dependence on imported petroleum products, stabilise prices, ensure fuel security, promote rural development and investment, reduce poverty and create employment through the Hippo Valley and Triangle estates.
The Chisumbanje Ethanol Project has therefore not only created jobs for the people, but is scheduled to cut down the fuel import bill significantly.
Zimbabwe’s ethanol production is relatively competitive with the cost of producing one litre of ethanol in the country ranging between US25 cents and US40 cents compared to US50 cents and US60 cents in Malawi.
This may be due to Zimbabwe’s experience with bio-ethanol production from molasses that dates back to the 1970s.
The Chisumbanje project is estimated to produce about 240 million litres of ethanol per annum from the direct fermentation of sugarcane juice from new sugarcane plantations.
The venture has also significantly increased the number of hectares of sugarcane planted with an estimated 69 000 hectares (ha) of land being put under sugarcane at full implementation thus increasing stress on the water levels.
However, with proper management and viable designs such ventures would need to be done well to avoid reducing biodiversity and displacing local people.
Information gathered during the Lake Mutirikwi tour revealed that end of February this year, the water level was at 17,3 percent (259 207 cubic metres) and that at the moment it was reaching eight percent (110 799 cubic metres), a development likely to impact negatively on various aquatic life.
“There is nothing we can do at the moment except to wait until the water level gets to four percent for us to raise the red flag so that we can protect the aquatic life and its various species although some of it can no longer survive due to the current situation,” said the area manager for Kyle Recreational Park, Chamunogwa Svosvai
Lake Mutirikwi is home to numerous species including largemouth bass, nembwe, various species of bream, barbel and yellow fish.
The lake has a total carrying capacity of 1,4 million cubic metres.
The water level fluctuates due to irrigation demands and the seasonal rainfall.
The 1980s drought drastically reduced the water level, but it recovered during the 1990s.
Batanai Fisheries manager, John Marondera and his employee Elisha Ngoma attributed the low level of water to sugarcane production in the Lowveld.
“There is a lot of water going to the Lowveld for sugarcane production and it is made worse by the fact that we have had no good rains for the past few years making it difficult for us to survive as a fishery,” said Marondera.
“We used to make a lot of money through the fish that the 21 workers whom we employed caught, but now they all cannot work at the same time because there are not many fish.
“This situation once occurred in the 1990s and the cyclone of 1992 actually made the water level increase as there was no longer any water in the lake.”
With six fishing cooperatives trying to make a living from the lake and a dwindling supply of the fish, it is inevitable that these people must resort to alternative sources of income.
However, the other sources of income could pose a serious threat to wildlife and tree population as evidenced along the Shakashe, Popoteke, Mutirikwi, Mucheke and Mbebvume rivers where there is a high deforestation rate.
Upstream cultivation by newly resettled people in areas around Boroma, Makore, Chief Zimuto, Chief Nemamwa and Chikwanda are within the 10 kilometre buffer zone of the Lake and its catchment area contributing to the siltation of Lake Mutirikwi.
According to the Mutirikwi Sub-catchment Council, deforestation and siltation of water bodies and forest fires had become the order of the day resulting in massive destruction of aquatic life and human livelihoods.
The protection of the catchment area would therefore ensure that the dam and natural resources continue to provide long-term benefits such as the forests acting as safety nets to water related risks and supporting the hydrological cycle. Forestry Commission’s public relations manager Violet Makoto said it is important for people to understand that without forests there is no water and life.
“Sustainable life can be obtained through conservation of forests and from forests there is water,” she said.
“Management of forests and water require innovative policy solutions which take into account the cross cutting nature of vital resources.
“Careful management of our catchment is important to ensure our present and future livelihood needs.”
While it is fortunate that the current eight percent water in Lake Mutirikwi has been left for use by Masvingo District Council and wildlife at Kyle Recreational Park, it is sad that the unsustainable activities have resulted in very high temperatures, silting of the lake and a decline in the tourist arrivals.