The Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM) has awarded a US$940,288 contract to DHI DK to help modernize the Zambezi Water Information System (ZAMWIS) to meet needs of Zambezi riparian countries in Africa.
ZAMCOM solicited bids for the work in April, which will use funding requested from Danish International Development Assistance (Danida) to provide consulting services to support modernization of ZAMWIS within the Southern African Development Community (SADC). SADC took bids in 2012 to supply hydrometric equipment to support shared use of the Buzi, Rovuma, and Save River basins.
ZAMCOM intends to increase accessibility and interactivity of ZAMWIS, which is a tool for sharing and analyzing Zambezi water information. The system includes: a knowledge portal of documents, policies, historical records and reports; a spatial portal of geographic information system (GIS) spatial data, digital surveys, earth observation information and web-based modeling tools; and hydro-meteorological and decision support systems. The work is to require 33 person-months over two years.
The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) last year recruited consultants to perform a dam failure analysis for dams and hydropower projects on the Zambezi. Major hydroelectric projects planned or operating in the multi-national river basin include 1,600-MW Batoka Gorge, 900-MW Kafue Gorge and 750-MW Kafue Gorge Lower on the borders of Zimbabwe and Zambia, and 2,040-MW Cahora Bassa and 1,500-MW Mphanda Nkuwa in Mozambique.
For more news from Africa, visit here.
