Victoria Falls is in full flow

Posted on 9 February 2021

Heavy rains have brought Victoria Falls to full flow. The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) says the water levels have increased significantly in comparison to the same time last year.

‘The Zambezi River flows at Victoria Falls have continued increasing steadily due to local rainfall activity and increasing inflow from the Upper Catchment, closing the period under review at 1,209 m3/s on February 8 2021. The flow observed on the same date last year was 677 m3/s,’ said ZRA.

There are 13 stations that make up the Kariba reservoir. Water levels here are monitored daily. At Victoria Falls, which makes up one of the key stations on the Zambezi River, flow measurements are conducted. This also happens at 7 other stations.

Victoria Falls water flow from January 26 – February 8 2021:

Interestingly, the maximum flow ever recorded at Victoria Falls was during Kariba Dam’s construction in 1958. The flow was at10,000 cubic metres per second, according to ZRA.

The lowest flow ever recorded at Victoria Falls happened during the 1995-1996 season. The annual mean flow was 390 cubic metres per second.

On April 1 2020, Victoria Falls recorded a staggering volume of 3817m3 thundering over the falls every second. That’s 38cm above the average for the past 3 years. It’s the biggest flood since the 1978 deluge and no one was allowed to travel to see it.

Watch below to see the power of the Falls at this moment in time.

Lake Kariba is also experiencing a slow but steady increase in water levels.

‘The Kariba Lake is designed to operate between levels 475.50m and 488.50m (with 0.70m freeboard) for hydropower generation. The Lake level is increasing with increasing inflows from the Zambezi River and immediate Kariba Lower Catchment – closing at 479.57m (28.69% usable storage) on February 8 2021, compared to 476.71m (8.36% usable storage) recorded on the same date last year,’ said ZRA.

Lake Kariba weekly levels in meters from January 26 – February 8 2021:

 

Image: Getaway Gallery






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