The Mazowe River (previously called Mazoe River) is a river in Zimbabwe and Mozambique, where it is called Rio Mazoe or Rio Mazoé.[1]
The river rises north of Harare, flows north and then northeast, where it forms part of the border with Mozambique and joins the Luenha River, a tributary of the Zambezi River. The Mazowe has a catchment basin of about 39000sqkm.[2] In 1920, the Mazowe Dam was constructed on the river forty kilometres north of Harare to irrigate citrus farms.[3]
The river and its tributaries are a popular site for gold panners and small placer operations,[4] although in the wet season, the Mazowe becomes a raging torrent, often breaking its banks and causing damage to local communities and farms.