Lake Tshangalele, also known as Lake Lufira or Mwadingusha Reservoir, is an artificial

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in the south-east of the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. It is located about 20 km east of the city of

Likasi Likasi (formerly official names: Jadotville (French) and Jadotstad ( Dutch)) is a city in Haut-Katanga Province, in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Demographics Likasi has a population of around 635,000 (2015). During the 1990 ...

in the old province of Katanga. It lies at about 1,100 m above sea-level in a large depression surrounded by low mountains. It was created by a

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 ...

built on the

Lufira River The Lufira River is a tributary of the Lualaba River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Lufira rises in the Shaba plateau south of Likasi. The river was dammed in 1926 at Mwadingusha near Likasi to form Lake Tshangalele, a rese ...

near Mwadingusha in 1926 to provide

hydro-electric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

. The area of open water is about 362.5 km². During the wettest months of February and March, the area flooded reaches a maximum of 440 km². The lake is shallow with a mean depth of only 2.6 m. The lake holds a variety of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

including

longfin tilapia ''Oreochromis macrochir'' (longfin tilapia, greenhead tilapia, or greenhead bream) is a species of cichlid native to the Zambezi Basin, Lake Mweru, and Lake Bangweulu. It has been used extensively for stocking ponds and dams in other parts of s ...

(''Oreochromis macrochir''),

redbelly tilapia The redbelly tilapia (''Coptodon zillii'', syn. ''Tilapia zillii''), also known as the Zille's redbreast tilapia or St. Peter's fish (a name also used for other tilapia in Israel), is a species of fish in the cichlid family. This fish is found ...

(''Tilapia zillii''), thinface cichlid (''Serranochromis angusticeps'') and North African catfish (''Clarias gariepinus''). It supports an important commercial fishery with the

tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...

s the main species caught. Surrounding the lake, there are extensive swamps where '' Typha'' and ''

Cyperus ''Cyperus'' is a large genus of about 700 species of sedges, distributed throughout all continents in both tropical and temperate regions. Description They are annual or perennial plants, mostly aquatic and growing in still or slow-moving ...

'' grow. The region is rich in birdlife such as the Lake Lufira weaver (''Ploceus ruweti'') which is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the area. The lake was declared a

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

in 1982 and is classed as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.

References

* BirdLife International (2008)
BirdLife IBA factsheet: Lufira valley
'. Retrieved 19 August 2008. * Mepham, Robert; Hughes, R. H. & Bernacsek, G. M. (1992)
A Directory of African Wetlands
', IUCN. {{ISBN, 2-88032-949-3 * Van der Knaap, Martin (1994)

', CIFA. Likasi Tshangalele Biosphere reserves of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Central Zambezian miombo woodlands