Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) has announced plans to conduct a controlled leakage test on Sluice 3 of the Kariba Dam on Wednesday, 2 July 2025, at 5 PM, as part of the ongoing Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project (KDRP).
In a public notice, ZRA said that the technical procedure follows successful refurbishment works on the sluice gate and is a repeat of similar tests previously conducted on Sluices 1 and 2.
The test involves the release of approximately 1,500 cubic metres of water, which ZRA emphasised is a small and carefully managed volume, equivalent to just enough to generate electricity for about three seconds.
“This is a routine but essential engineering test,” the Authority explained in its statement, stressing that the aim is to confirm the newly refurbished sluice gate is operating as designed.
The ZRA has assured the public that the activity is fully controlled and poses no danger. A team of technical experts will be on-site to monitor the process, and the gate will be immediately closed once test objectives are met.
In response to public concerns such as, “What if the gate jams? Will it not drain the already limited water supply?”, ZRA has assured stakeholders that an emergency gate mechanism is in place to prevent any unintended discharge during the leakage test.
As of Monday, 23 June, Lake Kariba held 15.25 billion cubic metres (BCM) of usable live storage, representing 23.54% of the dam’s power generation capacity, according to ZRA’s official figures.
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