News / National
Lake Kariba water levels rising
03 Jun 2025 at 11:57hrs | Views
Water levels in Lake Kariba have shown a modest but encouraging rise, providing cautious optimism for improved hydropower generation in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
According to the latest update from the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA), the lake's level stood at 478.39 meters above sea level as of June 2, 2025. This marks a noticeable increase from the 477.35 meters recorded on the same date in 2024, signaling gradual recovery driven by increased inflows from the upper catchment of the Zambezi River.
While the increase may appear marginal, it represents a positive shift following prolonged periods of low water levels that had severely threatened electricity production and water security across the region.
The ZRA also reported a significant improvement in usable live storage volume - the portion of water available for power generation. Currently, this volume stands at 13.06 billion cubic meters (BCM), up from 8.30 BCM recorded a year earlier. This translates to 20.16% of the reservoir's live storage capacity now available for electricity generation, compared to just 12.82% in 2024.
Lake Kariba is engineered to operate within a range of 475.50 meters (minimum operating level) to 488.50 meters (full supply level), with a 0.70-meter freeboard to safeguard against overflow. At maximum capacity, the lake can hold 181 BCM of water, with 65 BCM categorized as live storage - the volume used for energy production between minimum and full supply levels.
As of now, the lake's level is 2.89 meters above the minimum operating threshold, suggesting that just under 3 meters of the usable live storage band is currently filled out of a potential 13 meters. This confirms that while the situation is improving, the reservoir still remains significantly below its optimal capacity.
Authorities remain cautiously hopeful that continued inflows during the coming months will further bolster water levels, helping to stabilize the region's energy supply, which heavily depends on the Kariba hydropower station.
According to the latest update from the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA), the lake's level stood at 478.39 meters above sea level as of June 2, 2025. This marks a noticeable increase from the 477.35 meters recorded on the same date in 2024, signaling gradual recovery driven by increased inflows from the upper catchment of the Zambezi River.
While the increase may appear marginal, it represents a positive shift following prolonged periods of low water levels that had severely threatened electricity production and water security across the region.
The ZRA also reported a significant improvement in usable live storage volume - the portion of water available for power generation. Currently, this volume stands at 13.06 billion cubic meters (BCM), up from 8.30 BCM recorded a year earlier. This translates to 20.16% of the reservoir's live storage capacity now available for electricity generation, compared to just 12.82% in 2024.
Lake Kariba is engineered to operate within a range of 475.50 meters (minimum operating level) to 488.50 meters (full supply level), with a 0.70-meter freeboard to safeguard against overflow. At maximum capacity, the lake can hold 181 BCM of water, with 65 BCM categorized as live storage - the volume used for energy production between minimum and full supply levels.
As of now, the lake's level is 2.89 meters above the minimum operating threshold, suggesting that just under 3 meters of the usable live storage band is currently filled out of a potential 13 meters. This confirms that while the situation is improving, the reservoir still remains significantly below its optimal capacity.
Authorities remain cautiously hopeful that continued inflows during the coming months will further bolster water levels, helping to stabilize the region's energy supply, which heavily depends on the Kariba hydropower station.
Source - online
