Mtera Dam

Mtera Dam
Mtera Reservoir, 2012
Location in Tanzania
Official name	Bwawa la Mtera  (Swahili)
Country	Tanzania
Coordinates	7°08′10.3″S 35°59′12.6″E / 7.136194°S 35.986833°E / -7.136194; 35.986833Coordinates: 7°08′10.3″S 35°59′12.6″E / 7.136194°S 35.986833°E / -7.136194; 35.986833
Purpose	Flood control and power
Status	Operational
Construction began	1970
Opening date	19 February 1981
Owner(s)	TANESCO
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Rock-fill dam
Impounds	Great Ruaha River
Height	40 metres (130 ft)
Elevation at crest	701.5 metres (2,302 ft)
Reservoir
Catchment area	68,000 km2 (26,000 sq mi)
Power station
Commission date	1984
Turbines	2× 40 MW
Installed capacity	80 MW
Source: TANESCO

Mtera Dam is a hydroelectric dam in Tanzania. The dam is located midway between Iringa and Dodoma on the border between the Iringa Region and the Dodoma Region. The travel time from Dodoma is about three hours on a gravel road.

Mtera Dam is the largesthydroelectric dam in Tanzania. It measures 660 square kilometres (250 sq mi) at full capacity. The lake is 56 kilometres (35 mi) long, and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) wide, and is feed by the Great Ruaha River and the Kisigo River. It was built from 1975 to 1979 for the purpose of regulating water level at the downstream at the Ruaha installed Kidatu Hydro-electric Dam. Its capacity is 80 megawatts (110,000 hp).

The lake is considered one of the best places in Tanzania to observe birds, since there are at the one million dead trees in it and it has many shallow areas. In addition, the waters are rich in fish. In the early 1990s were a year about 5000 tonnes of fish caught in the lake.

On May 23, 2012 at 05:32:46 AM, a moderate M4.3 earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) at the northern side of the lake (close to the western shore).

Öhman, May-Britt, Taming Exotic Beauties: Swedish Hydro Power Constructions in Tanzania in the Era of Development Assistance, 1960s - 1990s, Stockholm, 2007, PhD Thesis, http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:12267