Boteti River shies away from Mopipi, Rakops

GALE NGAKANE
Correspondent | Thursday December 4, 2008 00:00

Boteti River, a source of livelihood for residents of who are derisively, Manoka, because the river, has been dry for over a decade now. In that time, hardship was the order of the day for these people.

While before they did not have to depend on rain to water their animals, this time they had to because the riverbed was bone dry. Before it dried up, Debswana drew water from Mopipi Dam using a pipeline to service in Orapa. Because of its vast waters, holidaymakers used to visit the dam for recreational water sports.It was also a source of livelihood for residents who caught fish in the dam. But nowadays the dam looks like a fossilised dusty patch and because of that, the new Orapa-Maun road has been constructed across the dam.

One wonders what will happen if the water was to start coming again! One of the researchers based at the University of Botswana's Harry Openheimmer Research Centre (HORC) in Maun, Dr Lapologang Magole, says the river could go up to Mopipi two years from now.

Presently, Boteti River is said to have passed Moreomaoto, but it is doubtful that it will reach Khumaga. That means residents of Rakops, about 20km away, should forget about it.Dr Magole, however, says there have been periods when the river dried and there were also periods when it flooded. People in Rakops and villages beyond should not lose hope.She said it usually depends on heavy rains in Angola and Namibia which cause a high inflow at Mohembo in the Okavango.

'You will realise that the river bed has been dry for too long and whenever the water comes, it gets sucked in by the parched earth. If it continues to rain the way it is doing, the soil will get soaked and when the river comes, it will not be delayed by dry land,' says Dr Magole.

According to Dr Magole, the first recorded flooding of Boteti River, especially at Rakops, was in 1849 and it was like that until 1899 when it dried up again. It was dry for one year and started flooding again in 1901, and for the next 27 years the Rakops riparian community lavished the water and its products, fish and tswii.

The river dried up again in 1929 until 1940 when the flow was a mere trickle which saw the river drying up for the next eight years. In 1948 it flooded up until 1972 and then it went dry in 1973. But between 1974 and 1982, it was flooded again.

In the subsequent years, it was an on-and-off affair as in previous years. But between 1991 and now, it had been a painful period for residents of villages between Rakops and Mopipi who would sigh in relief once the river is in flood.

Last week when I called some residents of Rakops, Salang Kgagamedi could not hide his disappointment saying he has lost all hope of the river ever reaching the village. But Dr Magole said barring any movement of the earth along the river, adverse sedimentation on the riverbed and developments in either Namibia or Angola, Kgagamedi will be all smiles again two years from now.

'What I can tell you is that there are no developments that side of the border in Angola or Namibia that may affect the flow of the river. There has not been any earth tremor on the riverbed either. That is why we believe there is a good chance of the river reaching Rakops and beyond in two years' time,' she said.