Lake Nzilo

Lake Nzilo
File:Lake Delcommune Satellite photo.jpg Lake Delcommune, now called Lake Nzilo, as of September 1994
Coordinates
Basin countries	Democratic Republic of the Congo
Surface area	200 square kilometres (77 sq mi)
Surface elevation	1,200 metres (3,900 ft)

Lake Nzilo (formerly Lake Delcommune, also Lac del Commune) is an artificial lake formed by a hydroelectric dam on the Lualaba River in the Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is about 10 miles (16 km) northeast of the major copper mining area of Kolwezi. The lake was originally named after the Belgian soldier and explorer Alexandre Delcommune.

The hydroelectric dam was built to provide power for mining operations. The infrastructure of this plant is four units and has a design capacity of 10MWe. The last unit was commissioned in 1953. It is currently operated by SNEL (Societe Nationale d'Electricite). The lake also provides a source of water for these operations. The lake was an area of wetlands before it was dammed, and some of the land around the lake is swampy. It has been stocked with fish, and is now an important site for waterbirds. As of 2007 the lake was popular with the expatriate community for weekend water sports. Although the lake is visibly polluted by the effluent from a copper mine, schistosomiasis seems to thrive and a number of infections have been reported.