Droughts affect water flow at Victoria Falls

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

It is drought that has affected water flow at Africa’s Victoria Falls, making it reach its lowest level in almost 25 years.

Flow has dropped to 3,850 cubic feet per second. The lowest flow on record is 3,496 cubic feet per second, recorded in October 1986, according to the Zambezi River Authority.

Victoria Falls is on the Zambezi between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The falls often dry up on the Zambian side, but this year has been worse than ever!

Parts of southern and western Zambia received their lowest seasonal rainfall totals since 1981. Zimbabwe has also been in the grips of a severe drought.

Zambia’s President Edgar Chagwa Lungu shared photos on Twitter of dry rock walls that the falls would usually cover.

“These pictures of the Victoria Falls are a stark reminder of what climate change is doing to our environment and our livelihood,” Lungu wrote in his post. The drought has severely reduced the amount of electricity Zambia and Zimbabwe can generate on the Zambezi.

Majority of that electricity comes from the Kariba Dam, which sits downstream from the falls. The two countries’ largest hydroelectric plants are at the Kariba Dam, where the lake is only 15% full.

Victoria Falls, which the locals call Mosi-oa-Tunya, or The Smoke That Thunders, is also a major tourist draw for the two countries, as is the rainforest nourished by the falls’ mist.
However, there might be some relief on the horizon. The dry season is coming to an end and rains are expected soon.

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