Lake Nzilo (formerly Lake Delcommune, also Lac del Commune) is a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

formed by a hydroelectric dam on the

Lualaba River The Lualaba River (, , ) flows entirely within the eastern part of Democratic Republic of the Congo. It provides the greatest streamflow to the Congo River, while the River source, source of the Congo is recognized as the Chambeshi River, Chambeshi ...

in the Haut-Lomami Province of the southern

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. It is about northeast of the major copper mining area of Kolwezi. The reservoir was originally named after the Belgian soldier and explorer

Alexandre Delcommune Alexandre Delcommune (6 October 1855 – 7 August 1922) was a Belgian officer of the armed '' Force Publique'' of the Congo Free State who undertook extensive explorations of the country during the early colonial period of the Congo Free State. H ...

Dam

The

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

with

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power plant was built to provide power for copper mining operations. The infrastructure of this plant is four units and has a design capacity of 100MW. The last unit was commissioned in 1953. It is currently operated by SNEL (Societe Nationale d'Electricite).

Reservoir

The reservoir also provides a source of water for these operations. The site was an area of

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

s along the Lualaba River before it was dammed. Some of the habitat around the lake is

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s. It has been stocked with fish, and is now an important site for waterbirds.

Pollution and recreation

Although the lake is visibly polluted by the effluent from a copper mine,

schistosomiasis Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever, bilharzia, and Katayama fever is a neglected tropical helminthiasis, disease caused by parasitism, parasitic Schistosoma, flatworms called schistosomes. It affects both humans and animals. It affects ...

seems to thrive and a number of infections have been reported. As of 2007 the lake was popular with the expatriate community for weekend water sports.

References

Nzilo Haut-Lomami Nzilo {{HautLomami-geo-stub