Having overflowed four months ago, the waters of Lake Tanganyika are beginning to drop. Socio-economic activities are starting up again timidly. The owners of the beaches along the lake's coastline hope that the waters of Lake Tanganyika will recede in the coming months.

It is Monday June 5, 2021. At 10:00am, we disembark at Safi Beach, which has been seriously affected by the rising waters of Lake Tanganyika. The lake is very calm. The wave hours (afternoon) have not yet arrived. Workers are sweeping a small portion of the beach that was recently released by the waters. The waters are receding, reveals to us a woman who is sorting out the trash brought by the waves of the lake's waters. This is confirmed by Omar Manirambona, manager of Safi Beach. According to him, about 20 m of beach are already freed up by the retreat of the lake's waters. They were at the level of the road (Avenue de la Plage), but went back more than 20 m. Even at the level of the port of Bujumbura, which was under threat, the waters went down. At 11 am, the level of Lake Tanganyika is 776.35 m above sea level when it was 776.45 m on April 19, 2021.

The Boulevard du Japon, whose edge was already destroyed by the waves of the lake's waters, is not currently affected. However, even though the Burundi Road Agency has piled up large stones to protect this infrastructure from the waves of the lake, this road remains closed to vehicles because its edges have been partially damaged. For its part, the Regideso water pump station is currently protected by sandbags that prevent the waves of the lake from touching the infrastructure.

At the Bujumbura Peace Circle, even though much of the water is still stagnant in the garden, employees say that the water has already begun to recede. “Before, the waves went through the gate to the side of the road,” says a waiter. Nevertheless, the owners of this place had to adapt to the situation and built above the water to continue to welcome customers.

Activities are starting up timidly

At Safi Beach, customers are starting to flock. Lovers who want to have a good time together on the beach. Activities that were suspended there two months ago have resumed since Saturday, June 3, 2021, says Omar Manirambona. The leisure area for people celebrating the wedding and the swings for children's games are already functional. The manager of Safi Beach informs that even the concerts will resume very soon.

At Black and White Beach and Big One Way Beach, the situation is gradually improving. Even if the waters remain stagnant in the middle of the beaches, the parts adjacent to the lake are accessible. Paillottes are erected there. Hundreds of people frequent the beach. Street vendors are also taking advantage of the situation to earn some money.

Almost impossible to recover losses

The Safi Beach manager reports that the losses have been huge. Since the lake's water level rose, we've seen huge losses. Over 90% losses. For him, it is difficult to recover the losses during this summer. He fears that the lake's water level may rise again in January, in the middle of the rainy season. Omar Manirambona says he has learned lessons about how other beach owners deal with rising lake and sea levels. Beaches must be designed so that future overflows will have limited losses. He asks the lake authority to warn in time if rising lake waters are likely.

The rise in the waters of Lake Tanganyika went into high gear in March 2021. The threat was imminent for many homes built along the coastline. Shoreline socio-economic infrastructures have been flooded and have been forced to suspend activities. To deal with this problem, OPC1 Anicet Nibaruta, Director General of Civil Protection and President of the National Platform for the Prevention and Management of Disaster Risks, asks local residents and investors to respect the water code. Article 5 of the said code states that construction should not be built within 150 m of the coastline of Lake Tanganyika, 25 m on either side of the banks of its tributaries that cross the city of Bujumbura, 50 m for the northern lakes and 5 m for the rivers in the interior of the country.