Ngondoma River

Ngondoma River

Ngondoma River is a river in Zhombe Communal Land, Kwekwe District in the Midlands province of Zimbabwe.[1]

Location

Ngondoma River is in the Midlands Province, although some claim it to be in Mashonaland West Province. Rivers are usually identified at their mouths, and the place where Ngondoma River flows into Munyati River is indeed Mashonaland. Munyati River serves as a border of the two, set several metres on the Midlands side.[2] Just before its confluence with Munyati River, it passes over Mabura Caves,[3] a bat guano mine in Somapani area of Zhombe.[4]

Sources

Ngondoma River rises in the northwest of Zhombe in what was known as Ngondoma Crown Land,[5] However, the main drainage basin is the Mapfungautsi Forest[6] on the Gokwe side of the river. It flows east and then northeast, where it forms part of the border with Gokwe, before entering the Munyati River.

Tributaries

The main tributaries of Ngondoma River are:

• Ufafi River 18°35′30″S 31°16′11″E
• Mavulamachena River 18°13′33″S 28°16′59″E
• Chebechebe River 18°28′24″S 29°24′31″E
• Nevada River 18°29′34″S 29°25′08″E
• Chevecheve River 18°22′19″S 29°22′10″E
• Chikombera River 18°29′11″S 29°23′55″E

Ngondoma Dam

In 1967, the Ngondoma Dam was constructed on the river 67 kilometres (42 mi) northwest of Kwekwe and 54 kilometres (34 mi) southwest of Kadoma (by air). The dam holds more than 7,000,000 cubic metres (250,000,000 cu ft) of water.[7] It supplies the government managed Ngondoma Irrigation Scheme 900,000 cubic metres (32,000,000 cu ft) of water per year by a 5.8-kilometre (3.6 mi) gravity-driven concrete-lined canal.[8]

Bridges

Ngondoma River has two busy bridges. The larger one is across the Kwekwe-Gokwe Highway near Fafi School and the other one is on the Gokwe-Empress Road about 2 km down stream from the Ngondoma Dam.

See also

• Empress Mine Township, Zimbabwe
• Zibagwe RDC
• Kwekwe-Gokwe Highway
• Zhombe River

References

1. Getamap.net Ngondoma River Retrieved 28 November 2015
2. Ngondoma is a stream, located in Mashonaland West Province Retrieved 28 November 2015
3. All-about-countries Places Around Guano Cave – Ngondoma (2.5km) Archived 22 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 16 December 2015
4. Tinomuda Chakanyuka (31 May 2015) Zhombe pins hope on bat poop The Sunday Mail, Opinion & Analysis: "Mabura caves are believed to stretch for more than 60km to Copper Queen area in Gokwe, passing underneath Ngondoma River", Retrieved 16 December 2015.
5. P Nyambara. 26 May 1997. ISS-326.pdf pp8. A History Of Land Acquisition, Commercialisation Of Agriculture And Socio- economic Differentiation Among Peasant Farmers in a Frontier Region: The Gokwe District of Northwestern Zimbabwe: c 1945-1990s University of Witwatersrand | Seminar Paper | Retrieved 5 December 2015.
6. Matose_wow4.pdf pp5 Mapfungautsi Forest is the source of four rivers namely Sengwa, NGONDOMA, Mbumbusi and Lutope. Retrieved 04 December 2015
7. FAO. Corporate Document Repository. (Zimbabwe. Section 2.3 Small Water Bodies_Table 2.3 Major Dams in Zimbabwe.) Fisheries Management of small water bodies in seven Countries in Africa, Asia FAO. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
8. Jamesm 10.1.1.196.2228.pdf Chapter 9.4.1.2. A Study to determine water demand management in Southern Africa: the Zimbabwean experience.

18°16′16″S 29°24′44″E