The newest post and image entries are on top of the page. Scroll from the bottom upwards to follow the flow status timeline of the Ruaha River per location

While images with cloud covers blocked the view and suggest rains, the images below downstream (3.3km) of the New NAFCO Headworks at Mbarali suggest zero flow on December 4, 2022. With a resolution of 5m/px flow may still be present without sentinel able to capture the near to zero flow.

The Sentinel-2 Image of December 4, 2022 suggests loss of flow (Circle) in the Mbarali River Section which shows flow on the high resolution image of November 18, 2022 (right image)
Click Images to Enlarge

Usangu Drainage Contribution Mbarali ceased

At the confluence of the Ruaha River and the Mbarali River in the Ruaha National Park, the drainage from the Mbarali River has ceased. You can compare the 10m/px sentinel image of September 3, 2022 with the high resolution image of November 15, 2011 where you can find the exposed sediments of the riverbed inside of the yellow circles.

Natural Colors for the Sentinel 2 image of September 3, 2022. A scale is inserted wat the top left. (Click to enlarge)
The same location on a high resolution image from November 15, 2013. (Click to enlarge)

Contribution Mbarali River to Drainage Usangu almost Nil

Section Mbarali River on August 29, 2022 less than a kilometer from the confluence with the Ruaha River at the top of the image where first observation of zero flow occurs. See below for details. Click on image to enlarge.
Detail above image see scale in upper left corner. Click to enlarge, the pixels are 5mx5m.
High resolution impression of same section Mbarali River on November 15, 2013.

Overflow at New NAFCO Mbarali zero to near zero August 19, 2022

For the analysis of the near infrared image (5m/px) at New NAFCO weir visit this link.

Almost all low flow from the Mbarali is diverted into the main canal on August 19, 2022.

Overflow Status Mabarali New NAFCO Weir August 2022

The Estimated Flow in the Mbarali on August 6 2022, is more than 2 cumecs, based on the RS analysis. Two cumecs is the assumed minimum diversion flow to the Mbarali Hydro-Power Station, Town and Irrigation Scheme. The remainder of the flow in the Mbarali river is the overflow over the weir. The return canal is also holding water (see image) and 1 cumecs is the regulatory discharge in the drain to be returned to the Mbarali main channel. The discharge cannot be verified remotely by the Ruaha Monitor Tool. The absence of return flow and approximate full drain can be assessed remotely during the low flow period in Mbarali River. For details about the remote assessment visit the related page.

Compare the enlarged version (click to enlarge) of the overflow over the New_NAFCO weir. The reduction of the turbulence (=discharge) over the weir due to the reduced low flow in the river, can be observed with the recent overflow images of July 30, 2022 and July 25, 2022 respectively (see July images below).
Mbarali New NAFCO main canal with blue arrow for the direction of the return flow into the Mbarali River Main Channel On August 6, 2022. (click to enlarge image)

Flow Status Mabarali New NAFCO July 2022

End of July the overflow at the weir in the Mbarali River at the new NAFCO intake still exceeds an estimated 2cumecs. The overflow is reflected by the turbulent whitish overflow section of the weir.

Compare the weir section on this image darkened by the cloud shadow on July 30, 2022 with the same location on the image below with comparable overflow.
The overflow over the weir at the New NAFCO intake of Mbarali River on July 25, 2022. (click to enlarge) For the high resolution image of the overflow see image below.
The images with high resolution and 10m pixels (Sentinel-2) of the New NAFCO Intake in the Mbarali River are both taken on June 23, 2019.