The creation of Lake McIlwaine: history and design

Abstract

At the close of the Second World War, a major influx of immigrants into Zimbabwe and the resultant sudden, accelerated expansion of the City of Salisbury, together with a severe drought in 1947–1948, resulted in an overtaxing of the City’s water resources as supplied from the Prince Edward Dam (Fig. 1). As a result of this water supply problem, the Municipality investigated the possibility of siting a dam further downstream on the Hunyani River, at Hunyanipoort, where the river cuts through the Hunyani Hills (Fig. 1).