Gaborone to get water from Zambezi by 2035

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Tuesday March 9, 2010 00:00

This was revealed by the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources in their committee of supply speech to parliament.

The report states that the vision is to supply the greater Gaborone from the Zambezi basin by 2035, at which time Botswana dams will be unable to meet the demand.

The report says a detailed environmental impact assessment study for a pre-feasibility study on the utilization of the water resources of the Chobe-Zambezi river was completed in June last year, and that the results of the study were submitted to the Zambezi ministers of Water Meeting held in Maputo, Mozambique in July last year, along with a notification stating Botswana's intention to abstract some 495 mm3 per annum for irrigation and domestic uses.

The Ministry report says to date none of the seven other member states submitted letters of objection and that Botswana has satisfied the SADC due process. The engineering feasibility design study of the scheme is proceeding well within schedule and will be completed by the end of April 2010, according to the report.

Meanwhile the report also says that Botswana's plans to extract water from Lesotho this year has failed. Botswana has been told they can only be considered in the project around 2030, based on water demands for South Africa and Botswana.

Botswana had wanted to acquire water from the Lesotho highlands water project scheduled to commence August 2010.

On a positive note the report says that implementation of the signed Cross Border Water Supply agreement to supply water to Kgalagadi south has commenced through an ongoing feasibility study in South Africa.

The study looks into viable options of supplying 5 million cubic meters of water per annum to the Kgalagadi area from the Vaal River, says the report. The study is expected to be completed in 2011. ' In the interim, South Africa has proposed to supply water to the Middlepits demand center from the available surplus in their network. On the North South Water Carrier project, the Ministry's report says rains have delayed the connection of Serowe to the North South Water Carrier.

The report says the construction of the connection of Serowe to the North South Carrier which started in September 2008 will not be completed in July as earlier planned, due to delays caused by rains. The report puts the new official completion date to 31 August 2010. The Ministry also estimates that the Kanye Water Supply Emergency project, which consists of connecting four newly drilled boreholes, as well as upgrading of three diesel driven ones and re-equipping of three boreholes in Kgwakgwe, will be completed on April 20, this year. 

The report also states that drilling work and test pumping for the replacement boreholes in Gaotlhobogwe wellfield was completed in November last year.

Of the eleven boreholes that were drilled five have been connected, while one is yet to be connected. However three boreholes were not successfully connected, while the other two did not yield sufficient water.

Efforts to connect Kanye and Molepolole to the North South Carrier have been dealt a blow by the world economic recession as the Ministry now has to revise the budget and change the original scope of the work, the report says, adding that tenders for consultants to carry out the exercise were closed on January 20, this year.