The Zambezi River report, by Maarten Dobbelaer
Charasteristics
Length: 2,650 km (1,650 mi)
Area: 1,300,000 sq km (some 502,000 sq mi)
Usage: agriculture, fishing
Environmental problems:
Due wastewater dumps by the people and the industry the water quality is of a worse quality. By a lack of water treatment plants the water quality is still getting worse.
Conclusion:
The water policy in the basin is in a primitive phase, so there is a need for knowledge and money. Only in such a way the water quality problems can be solved.
Abstract
Draining a total area of over 1.32 million square kilometers, stretching across eight member states, Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, the Zambezi Basin constitutes one of Africa’s most important water recourses. From its source in Zambia (1460 meters above sea level), the Zambezi flows into Eastern Angola swelling rapidly through this high rainfall area. Back in Zambia the headwater tract crosses numerous rapids, as the river descends to its plateau tract, downstream of the Chavuma Falls. The main tributaries intersecting the river along this region are the Kabompo River from the east and the larger Lungué-Bungo River from the west. Then the Zambezi form the border between Zambia and Namibia and meanders through the broad grasslands of the Sesheke Plain until it is joined by the Cuando River. From the Cuando confluence to the Victoria Falls, the Zambezi varies considerably in width, from open reaches with sand islands to stretches of rapids through narrow channels separated by numerous rock islands.
The river basin of the Zambezi River
The Victoria Falls mark the end of the upper course of the Zambezi, as its waters tumble with thunderous roar and an enormous cloud of spray. The River forms the border between Zambia in the north and Zimbabwe in the South until the river pas the border with Mozambique after about thousend kilometers. The middle course is notable for the two man-made lakes, Kariba and Cahora Bassa, which constitute much of this stretch of the river. Between the lakes the Zambezi confluence with the Kafue River and the Luangwa River The Kafue river, the Zambezi’s largest tributary, drains the water that has flowed through Zambia’s urbanized area in the north.
At the eastern end of lake Cahora Bassa, the Zambezi begins its lower course and become more placid, so the floodplain in this section can have a maximum width of eight kilometers. The last tributary of the Zambezi is The Shire River, which drains lake Nyasa in Malawi. This enormous natural lake has a north south length of 584 kilometers and is fed by thirteen rivers.
At its mouth the Zambezi splits into a wide, flat and marshy delta obstructed by sandbars and gives its water to the Indian Ocean.
In the river basin the most important economic sector is agriculture; the sector contributes about 34 percent of southern Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs eighty percent of the total labor force. Fishery is also an important sector in the basin, because fish provide a significant percentage of protein to the population of the Zambezi States. The people and the industry in the basin use the rivers also as a dump for their waste. Industries, in the urbanized areas of the basin, pollute the water with al sorts of chemicals and because of the lack of sewage plants in most areas; sewage pollutes the rivers with nutrients and organic matter.
The rivers in the basin are very important for hydropower projects to collect electricity. The estimated hydropower potential of the Zambezi is 20000 MW (ZACPLAN) of which 4684 MW has been developed. However, most of the people in the basin don’t use electricity, but use biomass as energy source. Nature is very important for the area, because it attracts eco-tourists and gives the basin attention from the rest of the world. More than 10 percent of the basin is declared as National Park.
The water policy in the region is in the sectorial phase, which means that the policy is tuned at the users of the system. Due this primitive policy, and a lack of money and knowledge, the basin has problems with the water users. The main issues in the area are drought, soil erosion and sedimentation, population growth and water scarcity, water pollution, hydropower projects and floods.
A lot of information about the river basin and her problems can be found in on the Internet. The following links will give this information:
Britannica encyclopedia
The Zambezi Newsletter
Communicating Environmental Programme (CEP) Factsheet
The state of the environment Zambezi Basin (SOEPROZ)
Strain, Water demand, and supply Directions in the most stressed water systems of southern Africa and Namibia
Protocol on shared watercourse systems in the Southern African development community (SADC) region
World Rivers Review
International River Network
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