I found something interesting in IVerify - Circulating images of a dry plunge pool not the result of low water levels, but images of works under Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project.

Circulating images of a dry plunge pool not the result of low water levels, but images of works under Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project.

Misleading

According to the Zambezi River Authority, circulating images of the plunge pool showing the dry river bed downstream of the dam are not a result of low water levels at Kariba, but rather images of rehabilitation works under the Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project to reshape the plunge pool, which include the construction of a cofferdam to enable controlled blasting and excavation of rock on both banks of the plunge pool under dry conditions.

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Verified Feb, 06 2023

Claim

On Wednesday, January 4, 2023, Dr. Larry Mweetwa, a member and supporter of the ruling UPND party, uploaded a post on his official Facebook page, attaching an image depicting the Kariba with high water levels, with the remaining two images showing a dry river bed caused by low water levels as the current state of affairs at the dam. Dr. Larry wondered, from the contrast in the pictures, what the president can do to avert the current situation at the dam.

Rating Justification

iVerify Zambia has determined as misleading the assertion by Dr. Harry Mweetwa that circulating images of the dry rock bed downstream of the dams plunge pool has been caused by low water levels, a reflection of the current state of affairs at the dam. According to a statement issued by Zambezi River Authority, a joint corporation equally owned by the governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe with the primary function to operate and maintain the Kariba Dam on the Zambezi River, there is a difference between Lake Kariba, which is the large water reservoir on the upstream side of the Kariba Dam wall (the concrete structure), and the plunge pool, which is a pool on the immediate downstream side of the Kariba Dam. Simply put, circulating images of the plunge pool showing the dry river bed downstream of the dam are not as a result of low water levels at Kariba, but images of rehabilitation works under the Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project to reshape the plunge pool, Works which include the construction of cofferdam to enable controlled blasting and excavation of rock on both banks of the plunge pool under dry conditions. Therefore, the assertion by Dr. Harry Mweetwa that circulating images of the dry rock bed downstream of the dams plunge pool has been caused by low water levels, a reflection of the current state of affairs at the dam is misleading.

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