Friday, March 29, 2024

Low water levels at Victoria Falls not alarming

Share

Victoria Falls .Picture taken in 2013 by Venture co
Victoria Falls.Picture taken in 2013 by Venture co

The African Travel and Tourism Association says the Zambian side of the Victoria Falls does come close to dying up with just a small amount of water flowing over in some places, just before the rainy season.

Association Chairman Ross Kennedy says this is a result of the Falls being slightly lower on the Zimbabwean side.

Mr Kennedy said media speculation that Victoria Falls may be drying up is entirely false.

He said according to local river experts, there would always be water in Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwean side between the Livingstone statue and Livingstone Island.

“Victoria Falls is at its driest at this time of year and, often before the rainy season begins, the Zambian side does come close to drying up, with just a small amount of water flowing over in some places. This is simply because the Falls are slightly lower on the Zimbabwean side,” said Mr. Kennedy.

Mr Kennedy added that, due to exceptionally low rainfall in the catchment area during the last rainy season, the water level was at its lowest since 1996 and the water levels would continue to drop as usual until the rains started in the catchment area north of Victoria Falls.

“Victoria Falls will never become ‘Victoria Walls’, as locals self-deprecatingly joke,” said Mr Kennedy.

And Chief Marketing Officer at Wild Horizons Shane White said despite the lack of rain at Victoria Falls, the low water levels are not out of the ordinary.

The rainy season normally begins in mid-November and the river this year is tracking the same levels as 1998.

Shane said that neither Wild Horizons, nor any other operator, had cancelled activities at the Falls due to the water levels. “It is normal for the river to be at its lowest at this time of the year, just prior to the arrival of the rains. Normally the river starts to rise again between November 12 and November 20, this is obviously dependent on rain in the catchment areas.”

All activities are continuing as normal, including white water rafting confirmed Shane.

11 COMMENTS

  1. Deforestation along the Zambezi River’s catchment area is the biggest problem. When it rains, there are no trees to arrest the flow of water and recharge the water table. It is this untrammeled runoff that causes flooding in Northwestern Province every rainy season. If the water table is recharged, the springs along the banks of the river will release water to sustain a flow during the dry season. Kenyan Nobel Laureate Prof Wangari and environmentalist Ken Seecharran were commissioned by Zambezi River Authority in 2008 to revegetate the catchment area. Unfortunately, it was that time that Prof Wangari was diagnosed with cancer, so the project ground to a halt.

    • Things are going to get worse as the charcoal makers are cutting 10 times as many trees as before to meet urban demand since the price has more than doubled.

  2. So there’s no one in Zambia with some brains to help our politicians of the belly to think of building some reservoir dams to catch rain water which we could be releasing during the day to help the Zambian side of the falls with some extra water during the dry season. or can we pump some water from down the falls which we can release again from Zambian side during the dry season. Some cities in the world do drink recycled water. so why can’t we recycle some water to help our natural wonder during summer? Anyone with a better advise or solution than mine?

    • We can’t pump water to drink to our Capital city, Lusaka, due to incompetence by ZESCO and their massive load shedding.

      So what makes you think we can pump water for tourists to look at?

      But then some id!ot politicians want to start a National airline to bankrupt Zambia even more and steal money in the process, so why not?

      Just tell Lungu it will get him elected in 2016 and he will immediately order it!

    • Now is not a convenient time. You better postpone the trip. I was there two weeks ago and the only place you can see some water falling is from the ZIM side.

Comments are closed.

Read more

Local News

Discover more from Lusaka Times-Zambia's Leading Online News Site - LusakaTimes.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading