Kafue (river)
| Kafue | ||
 The river system of the Kafue |
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| Data | ||
| location |
 Zambia
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| River system | Zambezi | |
| Drain over | Zambezi → Strait of Mozambique | |
| origin | On the border with the DR Congo , about 15 km north of Kipushi 11 ° 36 ′ 57 ″ S , 27 ° 13 ′ 14 ″ E |
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| Source height | about 1370 m | |
| muzzle | In the Zambezi on the border with Zimbabwe, coordinates: 15 ° 56 ′ 37 ″ S , 28 ° 54 ′ 48 ″ E, 15 ° 56 ′ 37 ″ S , 28 ° 54 ′ 48 ″ E |
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| Mouth height | 372 m | |
| Height difference | about 998 m | |
| Bottom slope | about 1.1 ‰ | |
| length | 950 km | |
| Catchment area | 155,805 km² | |
| Discharge at Hook Bridge A Eo gauge: 95,053 km² |
NNQ MQ Mq HHQ |
4 m³ / s 335 m³ / s 3.5 l / (s km²) 2629 m³ / s |
| Left tributaries | Kafubu , Lukanga | |
| Right tributaries | Lufupa , Lunga , Lusiwishi | |
| Reservoirs flowed through | Itezhitezhi Dam , Kafue Dam | |
| Big cities | Chingola , Kitwe , Kafue , Mazabuka | |
| Residents in the catchment area | 3,852,000 (as of 2005-06) | |
| Navigable | Only partially navigable due to the rapids | |
 Ferry over the Kafue |
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The Kafue is one of the largest rivers in Zambia . Its catchment area covers about 20% of the country.
course
The Kafue rises directly on the border with the DR Congo , about 15 km north of Kipushi at an altitude of 1,370 meters above sea level. It flows through Zambia from north to south, crosses the Kafue National Park , then the fertile Kafueauen with the Blue Lagoon National Park and Lochinvar National Park , then through the long Kafu Gorge with its high gradient and flows into the Zambezi .
Dams
In the Kafue National Park, the Kafue is dammed by the Itezhitezhi Dam , which delivers 80 MW of electrical power and, thanks to its large reservoir, ensures a steady flow throughout the year. South of Lusaka , the river is dammed in the Kafu Gorge by the Kafue Dam . The turbines here generate 900 MW (1972), of which 431 MW are exported. This dam enables Zambia to cover almost all of its energy needs. The Untere-Kafue Dam downstream of the Kafue Dam is currently under construction, which is intended to use the 200 m difference in altitude to generate electricity. 750 MW are planned. The plant is scheduled to go into operation in 2019.
Hydrology
The flow rate of the catchment area of the river was measured at the mouth in m³ / s. The flow behavior has changed due to the construction of the dams.
Average flow of the Kafue, regulated and unregulated in m³ / s
ecology
Lukanga Marshes
The Lukanga Marshes are an almost circular area of 2600 square kilometers. The size corresponds roughly to that of the Kafue floodplains. In addition to the Kafue, they are fed by the Lukanga river, which gives it its name . The swamps are a little-explored wilderness area. They are very difficult to access, which has prevented a complete inventory of the flora and fauna so far. Depending on the season, they have a water surface between 3000 and 8000 km², which is a maximum of 80 kilometers long and 65 kilometers wide.
Kafue meadows
Above the Kafue dam on the edge of the Kafue floodplains, which before the dam was built, became a 5,000 km² lake in the rainy season, extensive irrigation is carried out. Here are the most economically important and agriculturally most productive areas of Zambia. 700,000 people live in the vast Kafue floodplains ( 15 ° 46 ′ S , 27 ° 50 ′ E ) from livestock farming and fishing, agriculture on the edge of the floodplains like Namwala , or in areas like Mazabuka , where huge areas are irrigated over a large area, or the city's sugar industry.
Water maintenance
In 1999, a project significantly reduced the population of water hyacinths ( Eichhornia crassipes ), an aquatic plant introduced by the British from Latin America around 1890, which forms widespread and almost impenetrable carpets in the Zambezi and all its tributaries. This plant is not eaten by any animal and survives very long dry periods. It clogs turbines and slows the flow of water.
environmental pollution
The Kafue flows through the mining area of the Copperbelt , from which it washes various metal residues. The water of the river is also considered to be heavily polluted with synthetic fertilizer residues. Mazabuka with 130,000 inhabitants and Kafue town with 160,000 inhabitants let their wastewater, including industrial ones, seep untreated into basins. In February 2006, a cholera epidemic was reported in the Kafue Islands.
River history
The current course of the Kafue became the drainage route of the river very late in terms of geological history. For almost the entire Cenozoic era , the Chambeshi , which today belongs to the Congo catchment area, was a tributary of the Kafue and flowed over the Kafubu . Likewise, the runoff over the Kafue floodplains and the Kafue Gorge developed very late. Until then, the Kafue flowed over the Machili into the Makgadikgadisee or into the Zambezi.
Web links
- Water quality of the Kafue between Mazabuka and Kafue City (PDF)
- Cholera at the Kafue
- Importance of the Kafue River for drinking water, irrigation and energy generation ( MS Word ; 2.1 MB)
- Elin Alsterhag, Liselott Pettersson: Nutrient loading in the Kafue River No. 108, 2004
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Google Earth
- ↑ Soviet General Staff Map , accessed via http://loadmap.net/
- ^ A b c The Zambezi River Basin - A Multi-Sector Investment Opportunities Analysis
- ↑ Zambezi River Basin by Anton J. Schleiss and José P. Mato
- ↑ a b August 2006 ZESCO LIMITED - Site Selection Report For the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydroelectric Project
- ↑ Modeling and forecasting of hydrological variables using artificial neural networks: theKafue River sub-basin
- ↑ Complete data set of the Hook Bridge level
- ^ Kafue Gorge Lower (KGL) Power Station
- ↑ Significance of the Kafue River for drinking water, irrigation and energy generation ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ( MS Word , English; 2.1 MB)
- ^ The evolution and ages of Makgadikgadi paleo-lakes: consilient evidence from Kalahari drainage evolution south-central Africa
- ^ The Zambezi River - Andy E. Moore, Fenton PD (Woody) Cotterill, Mike PL Main and Hugh B. Williams
