For the thirsty greater Gaborone region, the Bokaa Dam has found drops enough to quench the thirst for 10 months, as the Metsimotlhabe River experienced a rare moment of flooding beyond its banks, resulting in the current dam level of Bokaa, just outside Gaborone. Even though Gaborone Dam is as usual taking long to respond, nearby, the Nywane Dam has also filled to more than 69%, guaranteeing supply of water for more than 10 months. This past week, news of more rain north of the country have also been music to the ears, as hopefully the country’s bigger dams of Shashe, Letsibogo, Ntimbale, Lotsane, will continue to fill up. However it is also strange that two of the country’s northern dams, Thune Dam in Bobirwa and Dikgathong Dam, are still not being utilised. The Water Utilities Corporation continue to indicate in their weekly updates that they are not pumping water from Dikgathong and Thune Dams. For the record, Dikgathong Dam, built on the Motloutse River, has a 400 mcm, and is currently at 75%. Its water, along with the Thune Dam, is lost to evaporation. At a time when water scarcity is a huge challenge, it is embarrassing to still note that despite all these challenges, two big dams are not pumping at all.
