Assessing the Presence or Absence of Climate Change Signatures in the Odzi Sub-Catchment of Zimbabwe

Abstract

Climate change and potential adverse impacts on water availability for the purposes of sustaining competing demand uses are causes of concern among water resources managers. This study focused on assessing rainfall and runoff data of a micro catchment in Save’s Odzi sub-catchment to determine if any trends existed and how far the results indicated climate change. The study had four rainfall stations (Rusape, Nyanga, Mukandi and Odzi Police Rail) and five runoff stations (E32, E72, E73, E127 and E129). Mann Kendall’s test was applied for determining trends in the two variables. The results obtained do not point to climate change. This study recommended that issues of current land use patterns and water abstractions be thoroughly understood for the area under study. It also recommended that techniques which promote terrestrial carbon sequestration should be introduced in the micro catchment.