Inappropriate management of dams

Dam managers contribute to floods by keeping their reservoirs too full when there is notice of above-average rains and by emptying dams in a panic as the rivers fill, rather than earlier.

It was report following the massive Mozambiquan floods in 2000, that engineers in charge of the Cahora Bassa dam had abandoned the safety practice of partially emptying the reservoir behind the dam before the onset of the rainy season.