 the luvua river (or lowa river) is a river in the katanga province of the democratic republic of the congo (drc). it flows from the northern end of lake mweru on the zambia-congo border in a northwesterly direction for  to its confluence with the lualaba river opposite the town of ankoro. the lualaba becomes the congo river below the boyoma falls. ==course== lake mweru, at an elevation of about , is a floodplain lake that has been formed by a process of erosion where the wind has carried off alluvium. the luvua river leaves the north end of the lake at pweto in the drc. the river flows about  northwest to ankoro, where it meets the lualaba. the middle course of the river is obstructed by a series of rapids, torrents and cataracts as it drops down from the plateau into the congo basin. at piana mwanga the falls are used to generate electrictiy for the manono and kitotolo mines. the river can be navigated in shallow-draft boats for  of its lower course below kiambi. the luvua has its peak discharge between march and may, with significantly lower discharge between september and november. ==watershed== thumb|300px|the luvua river is the northernmost stream in red. the congo river basin has the form of a huge, shallow saucer. the luvua breaks through the southeast rim of this saucer, bringing water from the mweru-bangweulu watershed. the luvua drains an area of over , much of which was at one time part of the zambezi watershed. there is strong faunal evidence for the luvua basin having once been part of the zambezi system, with several species of fish that are common in the zambezi system also being found in the luvua. congo fauna have penetrated up the luvua into lake mweru, but have been blocked by the mambatuta falls from entry into lake bangweulu. the transition occurred in the early [[tert
Geography_of_Katanga_Province Katanga_Province Lake_Mweru Lualaba_River Rivers_of_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo