Water Level Continues to Decline in Tarbela Dam Amid Dry Spell; Power Generation Drops as Inflow Outpaced by Outflow
ISLAMABAD: Water storage levels at Tarbela dam, one of Pakistan’s most important vital dams and source of Hydro Power, has been continuously declining due to lack of significant rains in the catchment areas and a prolonged dry spell.
The official water level recorded in Tarbela Dam is 1,527.19 ft, according to official statistics provided by the dam administration.
The statistics and inflows of the current reservoirs are displayed.Current Reservoir Statistics and Inflows is shown.
Full capacity of Tarbela Dam is 1,550 ft and its dead level is 1,402 ft.
Water Inflow and Discharge: As per the current trend, water inflow into the reservoir is recorded at 65,000 cusecs while water discharge at the downstream is 100,000 cusecs indicating a net decrease in water content in the reservoir to cater downstream irrigation and power demand.
Current power generation situation for hydropower.
The loss of water head has directly affected the capacity of electricity generation:
There are 17 Power Generation Units that are in operation (from the total of 22).
Current electricity generation at Tarbela is 1270 Mega watts (MW) which is far below of Tarbela’s installed electricity generation capacity of 4,888 Mega watts (MW).
Agricultural activities are heavily dependent on the expected up-coming seasonal rainfall and therefore hydrology experts are closely watching the weather patterns.