Ruzizi River

Hippos in the river Ruzizi, Burundi

The Ruzizi ( French spelling Rusizi ) is the only outlet of the East African Kiwusees, one of the tributaries of Lake Tanganyika and is 104 km long.

He entfließt the Lake Kivu at its southern end, and then forms the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC) to Rwanda, then. Between the DRC and Burundi The Ruzizi flows on these borders parallel to the elongated Central African threshold and within the East African grave breach in the south. Within this grave breach is an elongated chain of lakes connected by rivers. The Ruzizi flows into Lake Tanganyika.

Eight kilometers from its mouth it divides into two branches. The narrower western arm carries a one-tenth of the total amount of water in the lake, but forms the border with the Congo. The wider eastern part is the main tributary of the lake.

At the outflow of Kiwusees a weir was built in 1958 to generate electricity, which also has impact on the water level of the lake. The power plant Ruzizi I provides about the substation Mururu current after Bubanza and Kigoma. With optimum utilization of the plant to 148 GWh annually. The power plant Ruzizi II was added in 1989. Both power plants are operated by a tri-national company with the participation of the riparian states. Since the current production is not sufficient to supply the surrounding areas, is a third power plant, Ruzizi III, 25 km downstream planned.