Harare - The level of the Zambezi River downstream of Kariba Dam,already swollen by torrential rains, is expected to rise sharply next week following the opening of one of the dam's floodgates. An official of the Zambezi River Authority, a joint Zambian and Zimbabwean body that regulates flow through the Kariba Dam that straddles the border, said Friday the floodgate would be raised on Monday.
"Only one will be opened," said the official, who asked not to be named.
Mozambique, where the lower reaches of the Zambezi River have been flooding since the summer rains began, has already evacuated 200,000 people from the region as it braces ahead of a cyclone forecast to strike the coasts. Thousands have already been left homeless by the flooding.
Residents in the Kariba area say they recordeda 2.2 metre rise inthe level of the 5,200-sq-km lake from mid-December to mid- January after the highest rainfall since records started in 1890.
ZAR warned earlier this week that it could open floodgates "at any time" to reduce the effects downstream and to prevent "structural damage" to the dam wall.
When the floodgates were last opened in 2005, severe flooding occurred downstream in the Zambezi valley as the level rose rapidly, pushed back by theCahora Bassa dam further down in Mozambique's central Tete province.
"The flooding then wasbecause the ZAR didn't notify the Cahora Bassa authorities," saidSally Wynn, spokesperson for the Zambezi Society, a Zimbabwean organization involved in the conservation of wildlife in the river valley. "I hope they have this time."
The ZAR official said the Kariba gate was being opened to reduce the lake level to accommodate the expected heavy inflow.
"It is to create a reserve so that we don't have to open more floodgates when the water rises," he said. "That will also give Cahora Bassa a chance to open its floodgates more gradually."
Authorities on the Zambian side of the Zambezi below Kariba are reported to have moved hundreds of people away from the river, but the ZAR official said the disaster occurring on the flat river plains on the Zambezi's lower stretches was unlikely to occur below Kariba. "The area above is not as densely populated as it is lower down in Mozambique, and it's not a flood plain."
He also dismissed reports that the 128-meter-high Kariba Dam wall was in danger of being ruptured by the fast inflow. "They are managing the flow carefully. Besides, the dam is completely strong."
Kariba Dam was the largest dam in the world when it was completed in1958. Engineers from international companies gave the wall a comprehensive examination last year, and announced they found it in good shape.
