Ngondoma Dam
| Ngondoma Dam | |
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Ngondoma Dam Spillway, August 2014
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 Location of Ngondoma Dam in Zimbabwe
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| Location | Empress Mine, Kwekwe District, Zimbabwe |
| Coordinates | 18°27′26″S 29°24′50″E / 18.45722°S 29.41389°ECoordinates: 18°27′26″S 29°24′50″E / 18.45722°S 29.41389°E |
| Purpose | Irrigation/Water supply |
| Construction began | 1967 |
| Opening date | 1968 |
| Owner(s) | Ministry of Water Resources and Development (Zimbabwe) |
| Operator(s) | ZINWA |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Earth-filled Embankment Dam |
| Impounds | Ngondoma River |
| Dam volume | 7 million cubic metres |
| Spillway type | Flap sluice gates |
| Supplies Empress Mine, Ngondoma Irrigation Scheme and Columbina Rural Service Center. | |
Ngondoma Dam is a dam on the Ngondoma River located 500 meters west of the Empress Mine Township in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe. The dam is 67 kilometers northwest of the Kwekwe and 54 km southwest of Kadoma (by air).
The Zhombe Communal Land lies to the east of the dam, and the Gokwe_Chief Njelele east land is on its west. The dam belongs to the Zhombe East, Kwekwe District, and is one of the 1,620 dams in the Midlands. Dams in this province make up 17% of all dams in Zimbabwe and are managed by ZINWA (Zimbabwe National Water Authority).
The Ngondoma Dam was constructed in 1967 to supply the Empress Nickel Mine and Ngondoma Irrigation Scheme with water in 1968. It supplies the government managed irrigation scheme 900 000 cubic metres of water per year
The Mapfungautsi Forest in Gokwe is the main drainage basin for surface runoff into the source tributaries of the Ngondoma River. The Ngondoma River has three sources - one in what was known as Ngondoma Crown Land, located just southwest of the Mapfungautsi Plateau in the Gokwe District, the second from the Chikombera River from the Gokwe end, and the third from the Chebechebe River on the Zhombe side. The Chikombera and Chebechebe rivers were both tributaries of Ngondoma River with the dam being constructed at their confluence.
The initial capacity of Ngondoma at the time of construction was 7 million cubic meters, enough to supply its intended beneficiaries. Siltation is affecting the dam capacity, however no water shortage has been experienced yet. Ngondoma is an Earth-filled dam with a simple Barrage dams mechanism at the far west-end of the dam wall. It has an unmanned spillway system with fully automatic Flap sluice gates. Some villagers in the catchment areas practice stream bank cultivation and graze their animals in the catchment which leads to erosion upstream of the dam, resulting in siltation. Illegal gold panning upstream, especially on the Zhombe side of Ngondoma River is also another source of siltation.
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