Debswana spends P5 million on Boteti River

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Tuesday August 3, 2010 00:00

 

However Debswana says the so-called dams were not actual dams but a reservoir that was built in a low lying area, a naturally existing salt pan, next to Mopipi village, where water was pumped from the river into it.

However the company admits the flow of the river was diverted towards the reservoir by building earth walls/bunds across the river in three places. Two canals were also cut from the river to the pump house next to the reservoir.

Debswana however refutes allegations that they may be responsible for the river's dry spell that lasted decades. They reason that the source of the water in the Boteti River is 360 km away, near Maun. 'Doing any construction around Mopipi cannot influence the water flow so far away. The drying up of the Boteti River and the construction of the diversions are therefore completely unrelated'.

Debswana continues; ' The flow of the Boteti River depends purely on how much water flows out of the bottom of the Okavango Swamps. In some years a lot of this water comes out of the Okavango via the Thamalakane River, and then enters the Boteti River, which brings it down to Mopipi. Note that even when the reservoir was in use some water still passed by Mopipi and into the Makgadikgadi Pans in years when there were floods'.

' History shows that there was high flow out of the Okavango from 1955 to 1958 and from 1975 to 1981. Low outflows were recorded between 1933 and 1950, then again from 1960 to 1968 and from 1983 to 1986. This was when the Boteti River dried up. In 1989 there was some flow down the Boteti but the water level was too low to pump to Orapa. The reservoir has therefore been completely dry for the past 20 years', Debswana responded.

Responding to a Mmegi questionnaire, Esther Kanaimba Senai, the group communications manager says the removal and rehabilitation work started as far back as 2003 when Debswana engaged consultants to advise on the best way to restore the river to what it was before the changes were made. 'The departments of Environmental Affairs & Water Affairs were consulted at length.

The community of Mopipi was also involved throughout the process', Kanaimba Senai explains, adding that the removal and rehabilitation work started as far back as 2003 when Debswana engaged consultants to advise on the best way to restore the river to what it was before the changes were made.

The departments of Environmental Affairs and Water Affairs were consulted at length. The community of Mopipi was also involved throughout the process.

Debswana says it decided to restore the natural course of the Boteti River as part of its environmental management programme, which requires it to minimise the impact of its activities on the environment.

The company also says the water supply from the Boteti River had proven to be unreliable, and the mine had to find a more dependable water source, which meant that the diversions to the river were no longer required. 

Debswana also says it wanted to avail land for agricultural purposes to the local community, which it says traditionally use the area around the river for farming purposes when there is no water, and for fishing when the river is in flood.

'Since the mine is part of the community within which it operates it therefore made sense to restore the land such that the community can use it in the same manner they did before the changes were made,' Kanaimba-Sekai further says.

Debswana says it currently draws all its water from underground aquifers around the mines. The mine has obtained Water Rights from the authorities for this purpose and water extraction is carefully monitored. The mine also has a water management strategy that includes recycling/reuse of mine effluent as well as rainwater harvesting, thereby reducing to the minimum its requirement for groundwater.