| Tokwe Mukosi Dam | |
|---|---|
  Location of Tokwe Mukosi Dam in Zimbabwe | |
| Country | Zimbabwe |
| Location | Masvingo Province close to Ngundu |
| Coordinates | 21°03′46.25″S 30°23′39.99″E / 21.0628472°S 30.3944417°E |
| Purpose | Water storage, flood control, irrigation, fisheries, power |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | 1998 |
| Opening date | 2016 |
| Construction cost | US$200 million |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Embankment, concrete-face rock-fill |
| Impounds | Tokwe River |
| Height | 90.3 m (296 ft) |
| Width (crest) | 8.5 m (28 ft) |
| Dam volume | 1,915,000 m3 (67,600,000 cu ft) |
| Reservoir | |
| Total capacity | 1,750×106 m3 (1,420,000 acre⋅ft) |
| Catchment area | 7,120 km2 (2,750 sq mi) |
| Surface area | 96.4 km2 (37.2 sq mi) |
| Maximum water depth | 82.7 m (271 ft) |
| Commission date | May 2017 |
| Installed capacity | 12 MW (16,000 hp) |
The Tokwe Mukosi Dam is a concrete-face rock-fill dam on the Tokwe River, just downstream of its confluence with the Mukosi River, about 72 kilometres (45 mi) south of Masvingo in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe.[1] It is 90.3 metres (296 ft) tall and creates a 1,750,000,000 m3 (1,420,000 acre⋅ft) reservoir, the largest inland dam in the country. The associated hydroelectric power station has a 12 megawatts (16,000 hp) installed capacity.[2]
Construction on the dam began in June 1998 but stalled in 2008. Salini Impregilo began to finish the dam in 2011. Heavy flooding in February 2014 caused a partial failure on 4 February, on the downstream face of the dam.[3][4] By late February the dam had not been fully breached but the unplanned rising reservoir behind the dam caused evacuations upstream.[5] Both upstream and downstream, over 20,000 people were evacuated.[6] Construction of the dam was suspended in June 2014 due to a lack of funding.[7][8] In May 2016 the government released $35 million to Salini Impregilio[9] to enable the Italian contractor resume construction work that stopped two years ago owing to payment problems.[10] The Dam was eventually completed in December 2016 and commissioned in May 2017.[11]
