Thuli River

Infobox_River
river_name = Thuli River

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|image_size = 300px
caption = The Thuli River flowing out of Thuli Gorge, south of Gwanda, Zimbabwe
origin = Matombo Mission, Matobo District, Zimbabwe
mouth = Shashe River
basin_countries = Zimbabwe
length =
elevation =
discharge = 36.0 mm/a unit flow Chibi, T., Kandori, C. and Makone, B.F. 2005. Mzingwane Catchment Outline Plan. Zimbabwe National Water Authority, Bulawayo.] .
watershed = 7,910 km²The Thuli River, former name Tuli River, is a major tributary of the Shashe River in Zimbabwe.

It rises near Matombo Mission, Matobo District, and flows into the Shashe River near Tuli village.

Hydrology

The Thuli is an ephemeral river, with declining annual unit runoff [Love, D., Uhlenbrook, S., Madamombe, E., Twomlow, S. and van der Zaag, P. 2006. An evaluation of climate and run-off variability and associated livelihood risks in the Mzingwane Catchment, Limpopo Basin, Zimbabwe. Water Institute of Southern Africa Biennial Conference and Exhibition, Durban, South Africa, May 2006.] .

Major tributaries of the Thuli River include the Mchabezi, Mtshelele and Mwewe Rivers.

The Thuli River below Thuli-Makwe Dam is a sand filled channel, with alluvial aquifers in the river channel [Görgens, A.H.M. and Boroto, R.A. 1997. Limpopo River: flow balance anomalies, surprises and implications for integrated water resources management. In: Proceedings of the 8th South African National Hydrology Symposium, Pretoria, South Africa.] .

Cities, Towns and Settlements along the River

The Thuli River passes through no major settlements, only the following buiness centres:

* Freda Mine
* Guyu
* Manama

Bridges and Crossings

There are five main bridges over the Mzingwane River:

* Bridge on Old Gwanda Road, between Matombo Mission and Blanket Mine.
* Bridge on Gwanda - Kezi road, below Thuli-Makwe Dam.
* Elliot Bridge, upstream of Guyu.
* Bridge on Manama - Kafusi road .
* Mankonkoni Bridge on Tuli - Kafusi road . This bridge was destroyed by Cyclone Eline.

There are also a number of fords and crossing points, including:

* Ntalale causeway, which was badly damaged by Cyclone Eline.
* Causeway below Thuli gorge

Development

In addition to a number of small weirs, there is one major dam on the Thuli River:

* Thuli-Makwe Dam, west of Gwanda. It is located near the confluence with the Mtshelele River and supplies water for irrigation.

The Mchabezi River (the principal left-bank tributary) is dammed at Mchabezi, Sheet and Blanket. Mchabezi Dam will augment the water supply for the City of Bulawayo, once a connecting pipeline has been completed. Sheet and Blanket Dams supply waterto the City of Gwanda and Blanket and Vubachikwe Mines.

Two additional dam sites have been selected further downstream:

* Thuli-Moswa, where no development has taken place.

* Thuli-Manyange, upstream of Elliot Brdige, where construction was breifly started in 2007 but is now halted. .

ee also

* Shashe River
* Mchabezi River

References