THE severe rainfall shortage that led to the El Niño-induced drought experienced during the 2023/24 rainfall season continues to contribute to the receding water levels in the Kariba Dam, the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) has said.
In a statement yesterday, ZRA said water level in Lake Kariba had dropped significantly. It was recorded at 476,75m this year compared to 479,34m last year.
The low water levels at Kariba have affected electricity generation at the dam, where Zimbabwe was reportedly generating 897 megawatts (MW) against an installed capacity of 1 050MW.
“A four-week comparison of lake levels at Kariba Dam, which have been receding due to reduced upstream inflows, was conducted. Notably, the lake level remains lower compared to the corresponding period last year.
“A decrease of 2,59m is evident when comparing today’s lake level to the lake level of the same date in 2023,” the authority said.
ZRA also noted that local, regional and international weather experts were currently meeting in Harare under the auspices of Sadc Climate Services Centre weather forum, for the Southern Africa Climate Outlook Forum.
The meeting aims to provide a consensus outlook for the 2024/25 rainfall season while the actual 2024/25 downscaled rainfall forecast for the Kariba catchment will be provided by the respective Meteorological Services Departments of Zimbabwe and Zambia.
“The Zambezi River Authority will utilise the downscaled Kariba Catchment rainfall forecast to undertake detailed hydrological simulations using its state-of-the-art Kariba hydrological inflow forecasting software system and allocate water for power generation operations at Kariba Dam for the year 2025,” ZRA said.