D is for Dam

Rainfall in Zimbabwe varies a lot. It is high in the Eastern Highlands and very low in the extreme south. Prolonged droughts are common. So storage dams are essential as reliable sources of water for domestic, industrial, agricultural and mining use.

 

There are many dams in Zimbabwe, Kariba being the largest.

 

Kariba Dam as seen from the South bank of the Zambezi River (photo released into the public domain by its author, Benbbb at the English Wikipedia project)

Kariba Dam is a hydroelectric dam in the Kariba Gorge of the Zambezi river basin between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is one of the largest dams in the world, standing 128 m (420 ft) tall and 579 m (1,900 ft) long.

It was built between 1955 and 1959 and created the largest man-made lake in the world. The first power station was built underground on the South Bank. Later, a second power station was built on the North Bank. This one was completed in 1976.

From 1960 to 1961, 'Operation Noah' rescued thousands of large animals and numerous small ones from the lake's rising waters and relocated them.