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It is now less than two weeks before the new water year begins. The commencement of the water year on April 1, 2017 means that all subsisting water abstraction agreements lapse on March 31 and holders are required to renew them in the new water year.

The beginning of the water year is a time when Zinwa takes stock of all the water that would have been collected in its various dams in the country and then starts allocating them to meet the competing needs of water users. This is a very delicate balancing act that Zinwa performs.

In terms of the law, all people intending to use water from Zinwa managed are supposed to do so after entering into water abstraction agreements with the authority.

These agreements allow Zinwa to efficiently allocate the available water resources to users who include irrigators, local authorities, mines, industries and other users of raw water.

Once an agreement is entered into, Zinwa reserves a water allocation for the agreement holder in the dam and such allocation immediately becomes unavailable to any other water user.

The water would then be released to the user as per his or her request. The water user is then required to pay for the water allocated to him whether the allocation is exhausted or not.

This principle where those allocated water are supposed to pay for their full allocations even when the allocation is not exhausted calls for those raw water users to exercise extreme care when applying for water allocations.

In the past, many people ended up being saddled with huge Zinwa debts after they applied for more water than they required and now are being required to pay for the unused water.

So as the water year approaches, it is very important for farmers that intend to engage in winter cropping to ensure that they fully appreciate and understand their crop water requirements before they approach Zinwa for water.

This will assist them in coming up with figures that are more accurate than those reached without an appreciation of the crop water requirements.

Different crops need different amounts of water at their various stages of maturity. In this regard, farmers should work closely with experts such as Agritex Officers, agronomists and other suitable professionals.

If the crop water requirements are not appreciated, there is a real risk that the farmer will end up applying for too much water, which will result in him being asked to pay for the unused part of the water allocation or applying for water way below their requirements, which may lead to diminished harvests or outright crop losses.

These scenarios can never be desirable to any well-meaning farmer. It is also for this reason that ZINWA requires, among other things from farmers applying for water, an agricultural report compiled by an extension officer.

This is a measure to cushion farmers from the attendant inconveniences of inaccurate water requirements.

So as the water year beckons, farmers should find enough time to craft their water budgets so that they can have a successful winter cropping season.

•  For more information you can contact the Zinwa Corporate Communications and Marketing Department on [email protected] or [email protected]. You can also like the Zimbabwe National Water Authority Facebook Page or alternatively follow us on Twitter @zinwawater