Water  levels on Lake Kariba rising 

Mon, 20 Feb 2017 10:47:37 +0000

WATER levels on Lake Kariba have risen by 27 percent due to heavy rains which have characterised most parts of the country and is showing a magnificent increase in water volume which has surpassed last year’s record in the second week of February.

According to records by the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) for the second week of February, which was under review, the 27 percent of water increase was recorded on the lake as at Wednesday, 16th February, 2017, compared to 11 percent recorded during the same period last year.

In terms of actual volume of water accumulated during the week under review, the lake closed the week at 479.35m on Wednesday as opposed to 477.16m obtained on the same date last year when a drought affected most parts of the country.

“The lake level rose by 0.15m during the week under review due to rainfall activities around the lake and closed the week at 479.35m on 16th February 2017.  Last year on the same date, the lake level was 477.16m. All spillway gates at Kariba remained closed during the week under review,” says an update from ZRA.

The Kariba lake was created and designed to operate between 475.50m and 488.50m with 0.70m freeboard at all times.