Improving urban water management and building water supply resilience in the city of Harare, Zimbabwe – a systems view

Figures & data

Table 1. Scoring scales for CWRF Indicators (Saikia et al. 2022).

Score	Meaning
1 (Poor)	The indicator does not at all reflect current conditions in the city.
2 (Low)	The indicator mostly does not reflect conditions in the city. Significant improvement is required.
3 (Fair)	The indicator somewhat reflects conditions in the city. Some improvement is required.
4 (Good)	The indicator mostly reflects conditions in the city. Minimal improvement is required.
5 (Optimal)	The indicator fully reflects conditions in the city. No improvement is required.
N/A	The indicator is not relevant to the city.

Table 2. Phases of realisation.

Scoring axis	Meaning
Intent & Planning	The degree to which the indicator is reflected in the plans, legislation, policy, intentions and attitudes of the governing bodies and communities.
Implementation & Outcome	The degree to which the indicator has been operationalised and realised in practice, and its outcomes have been observed and measured.

Table 3. System contexts influencing water supply in Harare.

Systems context	Detail
	The 2050 climate change impact projections include: a modest decrease in total rainfall, erratic rainfall distribution across the country, higher drought and flood risk, a surface temperature increase between 1 and 3°C, reduced groundwater recharge, and more frequent and longer mid-season dry spells^a High bacterial, fungal, and coliform levels have been reported in water and fish in Lake Chivero, indicating habitat loss and general catchment degradation^b,c 22% of Harare’s area is covered by wetlands which suffer from formal and informal invasions, groundwater extraction, and sewer outfalls, contributing further to environmental deterioration^d
	In 1988, 84% of Zimbabweans had access to safe drinking water, but reducing to 72% by 2000 and 64% by 2017. 66% of people went without enough clean water for home-use at least ‘several times’ in the past year^e Current demand is estimated to be approx. 1000ML/d^f – expected to increase to between 1140-1296ML/d by 2050^d Water consumption figures: 300L/cap/day for low-density, 200L/cap/day for medium-density, 85L/cap/day for high-density, and 40L/cap/day for informal settlements without in-house plumbing^g Surface Water Sources: Seke, Harava, Chivero and Manyame Dams on the Manyame River system Surface Water Treatment: Morton Jaffray WTW – 614 ML/d + Prince Edward WTW – 90 ML/d Groundwater There are >10,000 boreholes, mostly across the northern suburbs Non-revenue has risen from around 40% in 2013 to nearly 60% currently
	The 2013 National Water Policy (NWP) includes key principles which address: Environmental protection and sustainability Equitable water provision for primary needs as a constitutional right, Provisions for economic growth and development Conservative and efficient usage Coordination with private sector, cost recovery, and governance capacity building
	52% of Zimbabwean’s say MPs ‘never’ listen to ordinary people, and 37% say the same about local councillors^h. 5.8 million Zimbabweans (∼40%) lived in extreme poverty in 2019 ^i, The COVID pandemic has increased those in extreme poverty by 1.3 million^j
	Tariff Collection efficiency ∼ 45%^f Tariffs are billed in local currency at the official bank rate, which itself is non-representative and always fluctuating. The customer database has close to 200,000 entries, however trends show fluctuations of around 5,000 customers month-on-month, suggesting a lack of integrity in the system

Source:

^a van Dijk et al. (2019).

^b Manjengwa et al. (2019).

^c EMA (2022).

^d COH (2021).

^e Kugarakuripi (2021).

^f COH (2022).

^g Gauff Ingenieure (2014).

^h Afrobarometer (2021).

ⁱ World Bank (2019).

^j Chingono (2021).

Table 4. System components (coloured according to their CLD representation).

Dimension	Scope
	Water infrastructure, including relevant performance metrics and properties
	Legislation, policies, governance structures, capacities, activities, programs and traits
	Financial variables, mechanisms, performance metrics, and broader contributing economic factors
	Community characteristics, behaviours and trends. Also includes collaborations between different actors
	Factors related to climate, geography, ecosystems and water resources
	Systems for the creation, storage, evaluation and dissemination of data
	Norms, attitudes, knowledge, expertise, understanding, meaning and value making

Figure 1. Greater Harare Spatial Extent (COH 2021).

Figure 3. Key water resilience gaps in Harare.

Figure 4. CLD Representing Harare’s Current Water Supply System.

Figure 5. Subsystem focusing on Economic Factors.

Figure 6. Subsystem focusing on Commercial Losses

Figure 7. Subsystem focusing on Physical Infrastructure and Losses.

Figure 8. Subsystem focusing on Environmental Factors.

Figure 9. Subsystem focusing on Social Factors.

Figure 10. Summary of strategy recommendations.

Figure 11. CLD showing System Impacts of Strategy 1: Customer-Provider Relationship.

Figure 12. CLD showing system impacts of Strategy 2: Coordination, Collaboration, & Integration.

Figure 13. CLD showing system impacts of Strategy 3: Physical & Informational Infrastructure.

Figure 14. CLD Showing the system impacts of Strategy 4: Environmental Protection & Rehabilitation.

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