Zambezi River Flows Fall Alarmingly
The Zambezi River flows have been falling over the past several weeks, and as of 06 March this year, the flow at Chavuma gauging station was about a third of the flow recorded on the same date in 2023.
The Chavuma gauging station is situated on the left bank of the Zambezi River, approximately 2 kilometres upstream from the Chavuma Falls and accounts for about 40% of the water that is recorded at the Victoria Falls.
The low water flow recorded at the station shows that the Kariba Catchment at Kariba Dam received below-normal rainfall during the current 2023/24 summer season.
According to the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA), Chavuma registered a peak flow of 530m3/s on 23 January 2024, after which the flows started to recede.
On 06 March 2024, Chavuma recorded a 357m3/s flow, compared to the flow of 992m3/s recorded on 06 March 2023.
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The Zambezi River flow at Victoria Falls gauging station was 794m3/s on 06 March 2024, compared to the flow of 2 569m3/s recorded on the same date last year. ZRA said in a statament:
The Zambezi River flows at one of the key Authority’s flows monitoring gauging stations, Chavuma, rose from a flow of 350m3/s recorded on 1st January 2024, registering a peak flow of 530m3/s recorded on 23rd January 2024, after which the flows have receded down to 357m3/s recorded on 6th March 2024, compared to the flow of 992m3/s recorded on 6th March 2023.
The Zambezi River flows at Victoria Falls rose from 492 m3/s recorded on 1st January 2024 to a flow of 800 m3/s recorded on 4th March 2024 after which the flows have been receding, subsequently recording a flow of 794m3/s on 6th March 2024, compared to the flow of 2,569m3/s recorded on the same date last year.
The gauging stations along the Zambezi River help ZRA track seasonal variations, floods, and droughts and monitor inflows and outflows in the dam. The data guides decisions on hydropower generation, irrigation, and flood control.
ZRA has 14 gauging stations located across the Kariba Catchment area.
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