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Okavango down, Orange up
THE flood level of the Orange River at Noord-oewer rose by nearly half a metre yesterday to 6,33 metres, with the peak of the flood wave expected by this weekend, according to latest measurements.
“The flood wave arrived in full strength at Noordoewer on Friday evening and has already exceeded the 2006 levels,” said Guido van Langenhove, Chief Hydrologist in the Agriculture Ministry yesterday.
“Maximum levels and flows are expected to be in the lower Orange River around February 12 and 13.”
The flood was caused by a massive discharge of water from the Bloemhof Dam in South Africa recently. The dam is situated on the Orange River.
In contrast to the Orange River, the northern Okavango River, which had peaked above the eight-metre mark a week ago, had dropped to 7,39 metres yesterday afternoon, seven centimetres down from Sunday.
The Zambezi River in the Caprivi Region measured 2,88 m at Katima Mulilo yesterday afternoon, eight centimetres higher than Sunday.
“The heavy rains of the past days in western Zambia have moved west into Angola and there were good rains in the middle Cubango area over the weekend.
Good rains were also reported in the Cuvelai area in Namibia,” said Van Langenhove.
Meanwhile, NamWater has reported that the Swakoppoort Dam was the only dam receiving some inflow over the past week. All other dam levels were slightly reduced due to evaporation and there was no significant rainfall.
The Swakoppoort Dam was 91 per cent full after it received an inflow of 144 000 cubic metres in the past eight days.
