WATERING THE NATION, LIVING THE DREAM Jeremiah Sejabosigo with the report for BOPA There is no doubt that Botswana is an arid country with an erratic rainfall pattern. Therefore, it is a given that owing to its sub-tropical climate, the country now and then experiences challenges of acute water shortage. Statistics indicate that historically, Botswana has received annual rainfall of about 500mm per year, with most of the rains falling between the months of November and March. Thus, low rainfall has offset the country’s ability to meet domestic and the rapidly increasing economic demands with its meager water resources. The situation, therefore, prompted government through the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) under the ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, to conduct a comprehensive National Water Master Plan (NWMP) study from 1989 to 1992. The plan, which covers a period of 30 years - from 1990 to 2020 – not only considers future water demands and possible supply schemes but also addresses aspects of water conservation, management, legislation and institutional arrangements. It also promotes flexibility, allowing for adjustments and amendments during the course of the plan implementation. Government approved the plan in 1993 and implementation is already on course. Mr Thatayaone Dedede, acting deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, says the NWMP study was instituted after it was identified that the amount of ground water, used to supply many areas in the country, was declining. Consequently, the study provides for construction of more dams in the northern part of the country to collect more surface water which can then be used to meet national domestic and industrial demands. “Botswana being a dry country, it was seen that what we were getting out of the ground was not equivalent to the recharge from rain into the ground, which led to a decline. So there was the concept of conjunctive use where we were to use both surface and ground water at the same time,” reckons Mr Dedede. Though the 1989-92 study, which carried out a detailed review of the first NWMP, produced a number of recommendations, the most pivotal ones were those advising government to construct two large dams, Letsibogo and Dikgatlhong, and the North South Carriers (NSC) One and Two. The purpose of the two NSCs is to carry water from the dams to areas that required water supply. Letsibogo Dam and NSC One projects were completed in the late 1990s but even their presence could not help to sufficiently address the growing water demand in the country. For the past 15 years, Botswana continued to experience acute water shortage in several areas such as the greater Gaborone, Kweneng and Central District especially Tswapong region. Since the NWMP study allowed for amendments during its course of implementation, government during National Development Plans (NDP) 9 and 10 constructed more dams. They included the 26 million cubic-metre Ntimbale Dam near Masingwaneng in the North East District, the 90 million cubic-metre Thune Dam near Mathathane in Bobirwa, the 40 million cubic-metre Lotsane Dam near Maunatlala in Tswapong North and the 400 million cubic-metre Dikgatlhong Dam near Robelela. Water from these dams was to be used for several purposes like domestic, industrial and irrigational use around the country. For example, water from Lotsane Dam was going to be used to support a horticulture project in Maunatlala. While implementation of some recommendations of the study is still pending, government is optimistic that delivering on recommendations to build more dams for provision of more surface water will lead to a marked improvement in water provision in the country. And the envisaged completion of the NSC Two next month is anticipated to augment supply from the NSC One, hence result in a remarkable increase in water drawn to the southern parts of the country. Mr Dedede says his ministry is confident that the 45 million-cubic metres of water that will be transported by the pipeline annually will be able to sufficiently help in meeting the water demands in the eastern corridor up to 2035. He says projections for a 30-year period between 2005 and 2035 were arrived at using present day figures for water consumption and population statistics. That notwithstanding, the projections can only be met if performance of the dams in the north continued to be good in terms of rain falling in sufficient amounts annually, reckons Mr Dedede. Further, he is quick to point out that success of the projections relied on the amounts of development projects happening in the southern part of the country. However, Mr Dedede shares that their plans do not end there, as his ministry is also lining up another provision to draw the Chobe-Zambezi water to the southern parts of Botswana using similar pipelines in future. “That will entail construction of a third pipeline in the corridor of the north-south carrier. Water from Chobe-Zambezi will be about three times the amount of water drawn through the North South Carrier Two,” he explains. According to a report from the NWMP study, if the southern part of Botswana continued to dominate investment, then the water demand will continue to accelerate inequitably in a part of the country situated some distance from major water sources. The acceleration in demand will then have to be met through development of new sources with new pipelines and delivery systems which will further escalate the costs.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Apr 2014 14:20:00 +0000
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