The Lake Behind the Lights

How much usable water is left in Lake Kariba — the Zambezi River Authority's own published level, what it was on this day a year ago, and where that sits in the range the turbines run on.

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When the lights go out in Bulawayo, the reason is usually decided about 400 km north of here, on a lake most of us have never seen. Kariba is where most of Zimbabwe's hydro-electricity is made, and how much of it can be made depends on how much water is behind the wall. This page reads the level the Zambezi River Authority publishes, and shows you what it was on the same day a year ago.

It is worth watching here for a second reason. Bulawayo's water has to be pumped 45 km uphill from the supply dams, and the council's own shedding notices have blamed continued power cuts for it. In this city, electricity and water are the same problem.

Published for 5 October 2026

38.04%

Usable storage

Of the water the machines can actually use

480.83 m

Lake level

Metres above datum on Lake Kariba

5.33 m

Above the minimum

The machines stop generating at 475.50 m

14.3%

A year ago

Usable storage on 5 October 2025

This year against last year

Usable storage is 23.7 percentage points higher than on the same day last year — about 2.7 times as much usable water.

Where that sits in the working range

Machines stop · 475.50 mNow · 480.83 mFull supply · 488.50 m

The Authority states that the lake is designed to be operated between 475.50 m and 488.50 m for hydropower generation, with 0.70 m of freeboard. Below the bottom of that range there is water in the lake but not water the turbines can use — which is why the percentage on this page is percent of USABLE storage, and why it falls to zero long before the lake is empty.

Source: Zambezi River Authority — Lake Kariba weekly levels, checked 25 July 2026 (2 months ago).

The last two weeks

The lake fell 0.30 m over the last 13 published days. Highest in that window: 481.13 m on 22 September 2026. Lowest: 480.83 m on 5 October 2026.

The published days

Day	Level	Usable	Last year
5 October 2026	480.83 m	38.04%	14.3%
4 October 2026	480.85 m	38.19%	14.37%
3 October 2026	480.88 m	38.41%	14.51%
2 October 2026	480.91 m	38.64%	14.58%
1 October 2026	480.92 m	38.71%	14.72%
30 September 2026	480.94 m	39.0%	14.93%
29 September 2026	480.95 m	38.94%	15.15%
28 September 2026	480.97 m	39.09%	15.29%
27 September 2026	480.99 m	39.24%	15.5%
26 September 2026	481.01 m	39.39%	15.64%
25 September 2026	481.03 m	39.54%	15.85%
24 September 2026	481.07 m	39.84%	15.99%
23 September 2026	481.09 m	40.0%	16.13%
22 September 2026

Why this lake decides your lights

Kariba does not make electricity out of the lake being full. It makes electricity out of water passing through the turbines, and the Authority decides how much water each country may pass in a year. When the lake is low the allocation is cut, the machines run fewer hours, and the shortfall reaches households as load shedding.

That is why a level in metres is worth reading. It is the number that sits underneath every promise about the lights, and it is published whether the news is good or bad.

What it cannot tell you is when your own street will go dark. A cut in your suburb may be a fault on a local line, a transformer, or maintenance — none of which has anything to do with the lake. For that, ZETDC is the only place to ask.

The lake sits on the Zambezi about 400 km north of Bulawayo, on the border with Zambia. The Zambezi River Authority is owned jointly by the two countries and runs the dam between them.

What this water runs

Kariba South · Zimbabwe
1,050 MW installed
Run by the Zimbabwe Power Company. Built at 750 MW, extended to 1,050 MW when two 150 MW units came in during 2018. What it can actually send out on any given day depends on the water the Authority allocates, not on the installed figure.
Kariba North Bank · Zambia
1,080 MW installed
Run by ZESCO on the other side of the wall — 720 MW at the North Bank plus a 360 MW extension. It draws from the same lake, on the same allocation.

The lake fills in one season and empties across the rest

Inflows come off the Zambezi catchment in the wet season, so the lake typically rises from about January into May and then falls steadily through the dry months to December. A falling level between June and November is the normal shape of the year, not a sign of something going wrong — what matters is the level it falls from, and how far it has to go.

Read this next to the city's own dams

Kariba is about electricity. Bulawayo's drinking water comes from its own supply dams south-east of the city, which are a separate story with separate figures — see the Dam Levels tool. The two are connected only by the pumps, which need power to move water uphill to the city.

What this page is, and is not

This is a lake level, not a load-shedding schedule. How much power actually gets generated also depends on how many machines are running, on the other power stations, and on the state of the national grid — a full lake has never on its own meant the lights stay on.
The lake is shared. Zambia and Zimbabwe draw from the same water, and how much each may use is set by the authority that owns the dam — so the level here is not one country’s to spend.
the Zambezi River Authority publishes these levels weekly, and we read that page once a week. Every figure above carries the day it was published for, not the day we read it.
For your own street, ZETDC (Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company) is the only authority. Nothing on this page can tell you whether your power is about to go off.

Who to call about your own supply

ZETDC (Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company)

Phone: 704
Website: zetdc.co.zw

ZETDC publishes 704 as its national contact centre number for reporting faults, alongside 0868 800 3486 and 0868 800 3485. Reporting through the call centre is meant to get you a reference number, which is your proof that the fault was logged — ask for it. Have your meter or account number, your address and a nearby landmark ready before you call.

Where these figures are published

Zambezi River Authority — Lake Kariba levelsThe source of every figure on this page, updated weekly.
Zambezi River Authority — Kariba reservoir dataBackground on how the reservoir is operated.
Zimbabwe Power CompanyThe generator — Kariba South and the other stations.
ZETDCFaults, bills, prepaid meters and any load-shedding notices.

Lake levels published by the Zambezi River Authority. Figures transcribed as published, each with the day it applies to.