Lake Kariba Drying Up

Lake Kariba, which is situated on the Zambezi river border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, seems to be in a lot of trouble as the current drought has caused the lake to start drying up.

Once upon a time, the lake would boast dozens of commercial fishing rigs and would also be a place for local fishermen from both countries could catch their food for the day.

Now, however, it looks like the days are numbered for the fishermen as the lake is started to dry up quickly.

Local fisherman, Cyril Murinda, said that nowadays you can barely catch enough fish in a day to eat by yourself:

“…[sic] It’s so bad that on a bad day you can catch just a couple of fish, just enough to eat on the day or exchange for cooking oil or a small packet of cornmeal,” he said.

He continued saying that if things continue to stay the way they are, there is a chance that many of the people who depend on the man made lake for fish, will starve to death:

“…We just hope that God hears our pleas for rain and the dam fills up so that we can get back to fishing, otherwise we will just starve,” he said.

Lake Kariba is the largest man-made lake measured by volume in the world. It can store a massive 185 cubic kilometres (44.4 cubic miles) of water.

However, the lake has now dried up to it’s lowest point in its history.

The lake has currently dried up so much, that it only has 12% of its full capacity. Last year this time, the lake was 51% full.

The devastating drought, brought on by the El Nino weather phenomenon, has wreaked havoc across Southern African countries and has not only affected water distribution and fishing, but has also destroyed cattle, maize meal growth and has caused severe food scarcity in Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Lake Kariba’s 12% capacity has also had an effect on electricity for both Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The lake also feeds water to two hydroelectric stations. One is capable of generating 750 megawatts of electricity for Zimbabwe and the other 600 MW for Zambia.

Currently, the Zambezi River Authority is rationing water distribution to these stations.

The rationing will also result in power outages for both countries. Zimbabwe has been suffering from power outages for quite some time now, some lasting up to 10 hours.