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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter

THE water level on the Zambezi River is rising, the Rafting Association of Zimbabwe (RAZ) has said.

Despite the negative, inaccurate publicity that the Victoria Falls was “drying up” in December last year, the water level in the Zambezi River was higher than in 1995 when the river recorded the lowest levels for the period October to December, RAZ added.

RAZ is a body made up of adventure and tour companies offering the adrenalin rafting activity to tourists on the mighty Zambezi River downstream from the waterfall.

White water rafting guides monitor water levels every morning before any activity using a Zimbabwe National Water Authority gauge and have documented this since 1995 when they started measuring water level.

In an interview, the RAZ chairperson Mr Skinner Ndlovu said rafting activities which depend on water level were never stopped last year.

He said water level has in the past few days been rising by more than one centimetre per day hence since Friday last week rafting activities have moved from low water, Rapid 1-11 to high water zone, Rapid 11-24.

“As of today (Friday), the water level was 0,620cm in the morning compared to 0,610cm the previous day. While there was noise about the Falls drying up, we didn’t see that because rafting continued. The lowest water level that was recorded was on November 13 when the water level was 0,334cm which is four centimetres higher than 1995 and two centimetres’ higher than 1996 records.

“The year 2019 had the third lowest water level recorded with the lowest being recorded in 1995 when the water was 0,300cm high on 31 October. The second lowest was in 1996 when the water level was 0,332cm on 28 November,” said Mr Ndlovu.

He said water levels on the Zambezi River started rising on November 17 to match the 1996 levels.

In 1995, the water level started rising on November 15 while in 1996 it started rising on November 5.

“In fact, the water level this year matched the 1996 level and was higher than the 1995 level which is the lowest recorded so far since we started recording daily water levels in that year. Rafting never closed and we have moved from Rapid 1 to Number 19,” added Mr Ndlovu.

At its peak, Zambezi water rises by five centimetres per day. Commercial rafting on the Zambezi River started in 1981.

A tourism magazine Travel News also posted about the rising water level on its Facebook page.

“High-water season on the Zambezi River opened as water levels around the Victoria Falls continue to rise. This means that the river is full enough for action-packed white-water rafting. Rising water levels also mean that Devils Pool — the small spot right on the edge of the Falls where you can swim — will soon be too full to access. It will open again once the river subsides in a few months’ time,” it said. — @ncubeleon