Kariba Out of Zambezi

The Kariba Dam, a dam cut out of the grand master Zambezi River, is a true spectacle and one of the lime lights of the great river. It was created out of the large Kariba George, a site never to miss as you move down the river. Kariba Dam is a hydroelectric dam in the Kariba Gorge of the Zambezi river basin between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Construction of the Dam
The concrete arch dam across the Zambezi River at Kariba Gorge, on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe was completed in 1959; the structure is 420ft (128m) high with a crest 1,899ft (579 m) in length and a volume of 1,032,000 cubic m. The dam creates Lake Kariba, and it supplies some 6,700,000,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, generated by Kariba North Bank and South Bank companies (Zambia and Zimbabwe, respectively).

The double curvature concrete arch dam was constructed between 1955 and 1959 by Impresit of Italy at a cost of $135,000,000 for the first stage with only the Kariba South power cavern. Final construction and the addition of the Kariba North Power cavern by Mitchell Construction were not completed until 1977 due to largely political problems for a total cost of $480,000,000. Some 86 men lost their lives during construction.

The Setting
The reservoir was designed during a period when concepts of human rights, social justice and equity in relation to colonial subjects were rudimentary, if at all considered. It was also during the period when environmental management was an emerging discipline, an era where engineers were an awesome community that could harness nature’s energy potential for the development of central southern Africa.

Consequently there was little environmental impact assessment of the proposed reservoir. The relocation of the Tonga people of the Gwembe valley was inadequately planned and little post relocation assistance was given. Several studies now show that the social impacts of forced translocation trauma evolve over an extended period.

The Wildlife
Elephant, buffalo, rhino and a host of smaller game are abundant. The waters of the lake itself support more than forty different species of fish, as well as hippo and crocodiles. There was no Environmental Impact Assessment done for Kariba, prior to development of the dam, so baseline data is not available.

Kariba appears to be one of the few successful examples of introducing non-native species to a lake. A sardine species was introduced that apparently has had only minimal biological impacts.

Consider the greatness
The Zambezi River is a great river that has been cut and split many times over for the benefit of the surrounding people. In the case of Kariba Dam, the Zambezi is now the supplier of Power, Fish, and Pleasure for millions of Zimbabweans and Zambians, as electricity is generated, fish caught and sold, and water lovers throng the dam for pleasure every single day.