The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) has recorded an increase in the Lake Kariba water level from 478.35m as at January 1, 2022 to 478 52m as at March 18, 2022.
In a statement made available to ZANIS, the increase of water level at the beginning of January 2022 was mainly due to sustained rainfall activity in the Kariba Lower Catchment but that the lake receded due to a reduction in rainfall activity.
ZRA Public Relations Manager Selusiwe Sibanda disclosed that as of March 14 2022, the Lake was at 3.03 meters above the minimum operating level of 475.50m translating into 13.66 billion cubic meters of stored usable water that is available for power generation.
He however noted that last year in March, the Lake level was higher at 481.44m with 27.62 of stored usable water.
The Authority has since assured that due the upper catchment rainfall activity, the lake would start increasing likely reaching a peak of 480.30m above the minimum operating level
The statement further indicated that the Authority has maintained water allocation for power generation at Kariba Dam for 2022 at forty-five billion cubic meters of water allocated to ZESCO Limited and Zimbabwe Power Company for their respective power generation operations.
“The Authority has continued and will continue to monitor and analyse the available hydrological data and hereby wishes to assure the public that a significant lake level rise is anticipated by mid-April 2022. This will result in an increase in stored usable water for power generation at Kariba,” read part of the statement.
I am surprised heads have not rolled at The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) ..this govt entity was highly politicised under PF that they were cooking up figures when they were issues with the turbines and the water level had increased. Please HH7 bring in professionals and get rid of the PF cadres.
For the moment we are 20% below last year’s figures, and I have my doubts that there will be a surge in water coming into Kariba in the next 3 weeks as the ZRA predicts. My estimate for the slightly longer term: LOADSHEDDING for many months around the corner. Solution: GET SOLAR!
The disclaimer also that conditions may change anytime and suddenly it can also be daily update informing people on the predicted elevations in water levels not only for increased generation of power but also for purposes of ecological and recreational on the dam Make it an App also for people to real-time check conditions and the ultility to confirm dam and river gauges on conditions both Up stream and down stream in real time hydrology is a risk also that can be managed and optimised as it impacts the revenues for the ultility including the dam people Investing in app will support the management of the dam and activities in real-time on the Zambezi basin
#3 Naphtali – I couldn’t agree more. The zambezira.org website does show the lake levels and percentages and a very clear graph (making it very clear that we’re 20% below last year’s levels) but unfortunately the site is not automatic and not updated very regularly. And they DO have river levels being monitored, but that’s clearly not shown. A clever app would be very beneficial. One thing is very sure: massive loadshedding in the months to come. GET SOLAR!
Anybody interested in professional solar advice, send an email to [email protected]
Free at last, the water increasing for the first time in the whole 7 years. So am sure we all now know who was cosmetically decreasing the water levels in the lake.
And we can bet that from here on, the water levels will only increase and increase as no one is illegally cooking this figures to pocket anything. Trust me . And also from now on, Electricity generation will only increase. Next you ll hear the New Kafue Gorge plant is now at full capacity then followed by itezhi-tezhi. Thereafter Zambia won’t ve load shedding again. I’m bluffing, just keep on listening.
My first job in the 1950s was working for the Government Water Development and Irrigation Dept. Specifically we were doing the first river flow measurements on the Kafue in anticipation of hydro schemes at Kafue Gorge and Itezhi Tezhi.. I f I had had Latin lessons I would have gone to Cambridge to read Hydrology and spent my time on the rivers and swamps of Zambia but alas I had to make do with Civil Engineering!
But I still follow the progress of river, dam and hydro development, indeed the whole country, with interest from afar. I am astonished and concerned at the apparent naivity and inaccuracy in the descriptions of the Kariba water situation. There was one report of river levels at Vic falls and Kariba that gave the water velocity in the Zambezi between those two sites at 0…