Pollution, dead animals and corruption: the tragedy of Lake Chivero, Harare's water supply

(Map: Google Maps)

21 Jan 2025

Once a jewel of Zimbabwe’s natural beauty and a playground for Harare’s two million residents, Lake Chivero now tells a story of shady deals, crumbling infrastructure and ecological collapse.

Lake Chivero, the main water supply for Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, has transformed from a pristine natural wonder to a polluted and mismanaged crisis zone. Once teeming with biodiversity and a magnet for recreational activities, the lake now suffers from severe pollution, unchecked exploitation and systemic corruption.

Its waters, poisoned by cyanobacteria, according to ZimParks, have at the last count killed four rhinos from the national park along its banks, three zebras, a number of wildebeest, four fish eagles and an uncountable number of fish. Tinashe Farawo, the spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, confirmed the deaths. Although a Ramsar-protected (Convention on Wetlands) site, according to ZBC News the public is now banned from its shores for their own safety.

https://youtu.be/SW4dm1iUBVA

Formerly known as Lake McIlwaine, it was built in 1952 to provide water for a city of 500,000 residents. Over time, it became a hub for recreational boating, fishing and tourism. However, as Harare’s population ballooned to more than two million, the lake’s capacity to support this growth faltered.

“I grew up on the lake,” says Gary Stafford, who has a restaurant and boatyard along the shore. “It was a haven for biodiversity and a hub of recreational activity.” But a series of environmental blunders and officials seeking easy money, including selling off critical wetlands and mismanaging wastewater, has turned this haven into a hazard.

https://youtu.be/vPYqehSRDuE

The first domino fell when city officials sold off wetlands essential for filtering greywater from Harare’s sewage plants. These wetlands had supported pastures and fed cattle, creating a sustainable ecosystem. Without this natural filtration system, untreated sewage began flowing directly into the lake.

In answer to a question from VOA News, Amkela Sidange, a spokesperson for the Environmental Management Agency of Zimbabwe, made the startling disclosure that, nationwide, about 415 megalitres of untreated sewage are being discharged into the country’s environment daily. Harare alone contributes about half of that.

https://youtu.be/uO1p45taWoE

“We need a whole of government and societal approach,” she confessed, saying temporary solutions weren’t getting the job done.

Harare’s mayor, Jacob Mafume, said he was counting on the central government to provide money to help the city provide proper sewer services, especially for those who live in informal settlements.

“We have over 150,000 informal settlements, and these do not have sewer reticulation systems,” he said. “Therefore, their discharge is going straight into our water bodies.”

A problem is that Greater Harare is sitting on its own catchment area and Lake Chivero is the receiving water body for a mixture of poorly treated and raw sewage, industrial waste and discharge from the city’s street drainage system.

Stafford warned Harare officials of this impending disaster decades ago.

“They sold the wetlands for housing, and I told them: ‘People need homes, but they also need clean water.’ They didn’t listen.”

The situation has escalated the concerns of the Harare Residents’ Association Trust.

“The city council needs to tell us what is going on, especially on water,” said trust chairperson Mr Precious Shumba. “We all know that the Harare catchment area depends on the lake for its water, and for us to see the pictures doing the rounds on social media of dead fish and animals is alarming. Are we safe from the contamination that has taken place, and what are they doing to ensure that we’re safe?”

A further problem is a crazy taxation system imposed by city officials that killed the goose that had, for decades, laid golden eggs of enterprise.

Lake Chivero. (Image: Google Maps)

ZimpParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo. (Photo: ZimParks)

About 30 years ago National Parks became self-funding and needed money. It changed the lake’s boat licensing system from an annual licence fee to a steep daily fee. Boating became more and more expensive. Then it charged a fee for each person getting into the boat, then added another fee for each person fishing on the boat.

“It was just another tax on top of another tax on top of another tax,” says Stafford. “Boating simply ended because it was too expensive. And it had a knock-on effect. All the boat shops, the boat manufacturers, the boat repairs, the fishing tackle shops in Harare closed down.”

But fishing didn’t stop, it changed. In about 2009 there was a food shortage crisis in Zimbabwe. There were then two licenced commercial fishing companies on the lake, but the minister at the time upped these to 13. When the government saw the value of the catches, they tripled the commercial licences to 39.

“Sport fishing had been catch and release,” says Stafford. “The fishing companies were simply stripping the lake. Pretty soon the number of species dropped from 23 to about four.”

Lake Chivero is the main water supply for Harare. (Map: Google Maps)

How many of these that are left is unclear. Stafford recently took environmental officials to the lake to witness raw sewage bubbling into the water. Yet, despite this glaring evidence, authorities continue to ignore the issue.

Cyanobacteria, fuelled by pollution and heatwaves, has bloomed, killing wildlife. Despite the fish die-off, some fishers are continuing to catch and sell fish from the lake. One fisherman told a reporter from The Herald: “The fish in the water are okay. You can easily identify those that are affected because they are dead.”

The lake, once 28 metres deep, now holds just 18 metres of water due to sediment buildup and pollution.

“Probiotics could help,” Stafford said, referring to treatments that introduce beneficial bacteria to break down harmful toxins. “But when we suggest this, officials ask, ‘What’s in it for us?’”

Even basic environmental protection laws are flouted. Stafford describes how poachers and licensed fishers collaborate to launder illegal catches, further destabilising the ecosystem. Meanwhile, illegal sand mining and tree cutting compound the destruction.

The community suffers most. International fishing competitions, once a boon for the local economy, ceased. Tourists no longer visit due to pollution and the disappearance of wildlife, such as rhinos being chased into the bush by poachers or relocated to prevent further poisoning.

Municipal authorities exacerbate the problem by allowing illegal dumping. Stafford notes: “They offer permits to pollute. You can pay to dump your waste into the lake. It’s insanity.”

Although the mayor, Mafume , claims that Harare’s water meets the World Health Organization’s standards and is safe for drinking, large numbers of the city’s residents don’t take the chance and use bottled or borehole water.

This month Environment, Climate and Wildlife Minister Sithembiso Nyoni said she was putting in place a plan to tackle the problem at Lake Chivero and other freshwater resources. This centred on the formation of an Inter-Ministerial Committee to coordinate the government’s approach, and included a proposal for a US$250-million fund to revamp ageing wastewater management systems.

Solutions exist, says Stafford, but they need to happen now. These include:

Probiotics: Introducing beneficial bacteria to counteract cyanobacteria and reduce sediment buildup could yield quick results.

Rehabilitating Wetlands: Using abandoned farmland and sand quarries as new wetlands would restore natural filtration. Stafford suggests planting reeds in these areas to purify water before it enters the lake.

Enforcing Regulations: Strengthening oversight to curb illegal fishing, poaching and pollution is crucial. Stafford highlights the Minerals, Flora and Fauna Police Force as a promising new initiative.

Community Engagement: Encouraging local communities to participate in conservation efforts and providing alternative livelihoods could reduce pressure on the lake’s resources.

Lake Chivero’s fate is not sealed, but time is running out. The lake’s degradation threatens not only Harare’s water supply, but also Zimbabwe’s environmental heritage.

“This is my home,” Stafford laments. “The country is beautiful, it’s the lake’s management that stinks.” DM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REeWvTRUpMk

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