Victoria Falls

Water levels at Victoria falls had increased by 200% as of 27th May 2020 compared to last year’s flow on the same date, says the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA).

According to the authority, the recorded flow is 57% higher than the long-term average river flow for Victoria Falls, the Authority has said in a statement.

ZRA Chief Executive Officer Munyaradzi Munodawafa said the last time such high flows were attained at Victoria Falls was a decade ago.

Munyaradzi said the water levels at Lake Kariba receded for the most part of the first quarter of 2020 with the obtaining lake levels being the lowest on record.

He said the receding lake levels were mainly caused by the delayed onset of the 2019/2020 rainfall season which only commenced in January 2020 instead of October 2019 as projected by both local and regional weather experts.

On water utilisation, Munyaradzi said during the period 1st January, 2020 to 27th May 2020, a total of 11.45 Billion Cubic Meters was utilized for power generation, representing 34% of the gross inflows over the same period.

He said there is need to balance between the increase in lake inflows with the need to ensure a steady build-up of the reservoir storage for purposes of power generation.

He added that there is uncertainty regards the rainfall performance under the upcoming 2020/2021 rainfall season.

The Authority has predominantly maintained the water allocation made to for the year 2020 (23 BCM of water shared equally between Zesco Limited and Zimbabwe Power Company) to ensure continued availability of water for power generation at Kariba for the remaining months of the year 2020 and beyond.

Munyaradzi said the Authority will continue to monitor the hydrological situation in the Kariba Catchment and water levels at Kariba Dam and keep the public accordingly informed.

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