Looming Kariba catastrophe

Karibas catchment area is about 663 000km2 Kariba Dam has a surface area of 5 400km2 and a volume of 180km3 The dam wall is 128 m high Kariba contains 23 times as much water as the Vaal Dam Kariba controls 90% of the Zambezi Rivers discharge and has drastically altered the ecology and climate of the region over the past five decades

In March 2010, 130 000 people who lived downstream had to be evacuated after Kariba was forced to open more of its sluices as a result of rising water levels. ZAMBI Cracks in the dam wall were already noted at that stage
Livingstone

Cahora Bassa Dam

Lusaka

i bez Zam

Kariba Dam

Harare

Water level

Zambezi

ZIMBABWE
Bulawayo

Francistown

Maintenance work needs to be done here

30 m under water 50 m under water 90 m under water

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BOTSWANA
100 200 km

MOZAMBIQUE SOUTH AFRICA

THEUNS KRUGER, Graphics24

The dam wall is 24m wide and 579m high in places

Water from the sluices causes an eddy, which carves a deeper plunge pool over decades. The continual water erosion is cutting the plunge pools wall backward towards the dam, where it is beginning to erode the dam wall itself. The plunge pool thus needs to be filled and the foundation must be repaired and strengthened if necessary

SA gets 1 500MW from the Cahora Bassa hydroelectric power station

If the Kariba Dam collapses, the lives of 3.5 million people who live on its banks will be in danger

Experts estimate that the dam could collapse in three years if nothing is done. Construction work must therefore begin by September

The repairs to the dam wall are estimated at R2.7 billion and will take six years