Kariba Dam water levels have dropped to 16% despite the current rains falling throughout the country, the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) has said.
BY XOLISANI NCUBE
Last month, the water levels in the dam that produces the bulk of the country’s electricity had dropped to 21% from 40% recorded in June before falling to the current 16%.
“The lake levels continued declining during the week under review, and closed at 477,79m on December 14 2015, which is lower than the level that was recorded last year (482,66m) on the same date. All spillway gates at Kariba remained closed during the week under review,” read a statement from ZRA.
“The Kariba Lake was created and designed to operate between levels 475,50m and 488,50m with 0,70m freeboard at all times.”
ZRA indicated that only one-metre water levels were left to sustain the country until meaningful rains pound.
Although the authority did not give an interpretation to the statistics, the latest drop has seen the dam’s capacity going down to 21% compared to 60% recorded last year during the same period.
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Zimbabwe, which requires up to 2 200 megawatts (MW) of electricity per day, is currently producing 800MW and importing 95MW.
This has seen many parts of the country spending up to 18 hours a day without electricity, crippling many industries that require power for production.
According to the Southern African Regional Climate Outlook Forum, Zimbabwe should brace for a normal to below normal rainfall season.
