Okavango River rises

HEAVY rains in southern Angola pushed the water level of the Okavango River past the six-metre mark yesterday.

In the morning the level stood at 6,13 metres but it rose by six centimetres during the day, to 6,19 metres by 16h00, according to Guido van Langenhove, Chief Hydrologist in the Ministry of Agriculture. Another ministerial official, Silvanus Uunona of the Oshana Basin office, reported that the water level at Sky Bridge in Oshakati stood at 0.08 m, unchanged since Monday. In southern Namibia, NamWater indicated that the gates of the Naute Dam west of Keetmanshoop were to be opened by 17h00 yesterday afternoon to release 100 million cubic metres of water per second. The latest reading of the Naute Dam yesterday showed that it was 98,4 per cent full. Discharge from Naute goes into the Löwen River, which then usually has quite a high flow. The Löwen River crosses the C12 main gravel road to Holoog and the recently revamped Ai-Ais resort and flows into the Fish River. Water discharged from Naute will thus eventually reach Ai-Ais.The Hardap Dam near Mariental was 54 per cent full by noon yesterday.