RUACANA ROARS AGAIN - a rare sight on Namibia´s border
Text and photographs Dirk Heinrich
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he spray rises a hundred metres high into the blue sky as 1400 cubic metres of water thunder down the blackbrown rocks per second. Below the falls the Kunene continues through a gorge of about one kilometre. At most places along that section the turbulent river remains hidden under the spray. At Ruacana the Kunene plummets over near vertical rock faces to a depth of between 107 and 120 metres. Then it winds its way westwards through a mountainous arid landscape for 352 kilometres to empty into the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the current heavy flow of water from Angola is diverted through the underground hydroelectric power station, built into the rock next to Ruacana Falls. The total capacity of the four turbines is 347 megawatt. The Kunene peaked on April 22nd this year when 1604 m³/s rushed down the falls and through the power station. The second highest volume was recorded in 2011 when 1844 m³/s cascaded over the rock faces on the way to the ocean. The highest flow rate in the history of Ruacana Power Station (built at the end of the 1970s) was estimated to be over 3000 m³/s in April 1984. Exact measurements were impossible because all the instruments and gauges were flooded. This spectacular natural event is not a regular feature, however. The level of the Kunene fluctuates all the time, depending on rainfalls in Angola and the amount of water released from dams upstream in the neighbouring country. Most of the year the falls are in fact dry because the Kunene is diverted through a 1.5 km long tunnel to the hydroelectric power station. The water masses which rushed down the river in April flooded several lodges on the Namibian side and had the Epupa Falls further downstream roaring too. It has been reported that crocodiles avoided the strong current in the middle of the fast flowing river and moved into the flooded areas next to the banks of the Kunene. TNN
TRAVEL NEWS NAMIBIA WINTER 2018
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