- Insiza River
Infobox_River
river_name = Insiza River|image_size = 300px
caption = Ekusileni pontoon ferry, on the Insiza River downstream ofFilabusi ,Zimbabwe
origin =Fort Rixon , Zimbabwe
mouth =Mzingwane River
basin_countries =Zimbabwe
length =
elevation =
discharge = 25.9 mm/a unit runoff Kileshye-Onema,J.-M., Mazvimavi, D., Love, D. and Mul, M.L. 2006. Effects of selected dams on river flows of Insiza River, Zimbabwe . Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 31, 870-875. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pce.2006.08.022] ]
watershed = 3,401 km2 [Kileshye Onema, J.-M. and van Rooyen, A. 2007. Landuse dynamics in a small watershed of the semi-arid Zimbabwe. American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #B41B-0460 [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007AGUFM.B41B0460K] ] The Insiza River is the principal tributary of theMzingwane River inZimbabwe .It rises near
Fort Rixon , Insiza District, and flows into theMzingwane River nearWest Nicholson .Hydrology
The upper reaches of the Insiza River are ephemeral, but below
Silalabuhwa Dam , the river flows for two-thirds of the year .Major tributaries of the Insiza River include the Inkankezi and Siwaze Rivers.
Cities, Towns and Settlements along the River
The settlements below have are ordered from the beginning of the river to its end:
*Fort Rixon village
*Filabusi villageBridges and Crossings
There are four main bridges over the Insiza River:
* Bridge on mainMbalabala -Masvingo road, nearFilabusi .
* Bridge onFilabusi -Mataga road .
* Bridge onFilabusi -West Nicholson road .
* Croft Bridge, on the road fromFilabusi to Croft mine.There are also a number of crossing points, including:
* Ekusileni pontoon (see photo at top of page).Development
In addition to a number of small
weirs , there are four dams on the Insiza River:*
Upper Insiza Dam , nearFort Rixon , built in1967 with a full supply capacity of 8,829 Mm3.*
Insiza Dam , previously known as Mayfair Dam and Lake Cunnigham, built in1973 , with a full supply capacity of 173,491 Mm3. It supplies water to the City ofBulawayo .*
Pangani Dam , nearFilabusi , built to supply water for Pangani mine (now closed and site of a youth training institute.*
Silalabuhwa Dam , built in1966 , with a full supply capacity of 23,454 Mm3. It is located near the confluence with theMzingwane River and supplies water for irrigation and toColleen Bawn [Chibi, T., Kandori, C. and Makone, B.F. 2005. Mzingwane Catchment Outline Plan. Zimbabwe National WaterAuthority, Bulawayo.] .References
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