Kariba – The water levels in Lake Kariba steadily decreasing in the past weeks, a move that will affect electricity generation for Zimbabwe and Zambia, the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) said on Monday.
The ZRA is composed of Zambia and Zimbabwe governments runs the Kariba dam which is along the borders of the two countries.
”The lake level currently steadily declining due to reduced inflows from the upper-catchment. This decrease is typical for this time of the year and is expected to continue until the onset of the rainy season,” the ZRA said.
”The Lake level is steadily decreasing, closing the period under review at 478.29m (19.45% usable storage) as of 1st September 2025, compared to 476.71m (8.36% usable storage) recorded on the same date last year.”
”The Kariba Lake is designed to operate between levels 475.50m and 488.50m (with 0.70m freeboard) for hydropower generation,” ZRA added.
Kariba power generation for Zimbabwe on Monday was at 400 MW while Hwange Thermal is generating 1153 MW.
In the past years when water levels did not gradually decrease at Kariba, Zimbabwe could get 900 MW from the dam which was built in colonial Rhodesia.