04 Feb 2019

A pre-feasibility study will be conducted to determine a suitable site where Lesotho will construct a dam that will allow Botswana to import water using a 600 km long pipeline that will run across South Africa to Gaborone.

This was revealed by one of the consultants of the project, Mr Oscar Nkhoma during a site visit of the proposed dam site, which Lesotho intends to construct along the Makhaleng River which feeds into the Indian Ocean.

One of the proposed dam sites is upstring the Makhaleng River gauging station while the second site is near Mphagarare village in the Mohaleshoek District, about 54 kilometres south east of Maseru.

Mr Nkhoma explained that initially there were 13 dam construction sites, and that the consultants reduced them to two.

He explained that the consultants were working on two proposed sites to finalise their intended site, which would be approved by four member states being Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.

Mr Nkhoma said the mega project would only take off once the parties had approved the proposal of the dam site. However, he could not be drawn into discussing the time period the project would start, and only said Botswana and Lesotho would determine the next step to be taken.

An office to coordinate the project was set up in Lesotho and the project commissioners and delegates were taken on a conducted tour of the two sites.

Meanwhile, one of the commissioners and director of the Department of Water and Sanitation Services, Ms Bogadi Mathangwane explained that a Memorandum of Agreement was signed on December 14, 2018 by four ministers responsible for water from their respective countries.

She explained that the four ministers had met to provide policy and political guidance on the project, and review progress on the implementation of the 10 year basin wide integrated water resource management plan, which was adopted in 2015 to guide management, development and conservation of water resources of the Orange Sengu Basin.

Ms Mathangwane further explained that the ministers reviewed progress on the implementation of the feasibility study of the Lesotho –Botswana Water Transfer project for Makhaleng Dam and Water Supply Project which began in August 2018.

The project aims to transfer water to Gaborone from Makhaleng River and the same source will also supply the arid areas of Mafiteng and Mahale’s Hoek districts of Lesotho under the Lesotho Lowlands Water Supply Scheme, including parts of South Africa on a selected route.

During the signing of the agreement, the ministers noted the status of the implementation of the priority actions.

Botswana has been hit by successive droughts that kept Gaborone Dam dry for three years until it was filled up by the excessive 2016/17 rains.

Throughout the period of water shortage, Gaborone’s water supply was imported from the North West Province of South Africa. Key among the interventions to alleviate water shortage in the south and south-east districts, Botswana started drawing water from the newly-resuscitated Masama West aquifer.

Government also has plans to revive the construction of the North-South Carrier (NSC) Water Project which entails the construction of a 360 km long pipeline to ferry water from the north east to Gaborone.

The four ministers also underscored the importance of the integrated catchment management being undertaken by Lesotho as the best approach to sustainable resources management.

The sustainable implementation of the integrated catchment requires concerted efforts by member states given its multi sectoral involvement of all stakeholders.

The commission is also expected to explore a long term and sustainable financing strategy, which is informed by global best practices.

The size and cost of the dam will be determined by a feasibility study, which is being funded to the tune of US$2.3 million by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Lesotho has surplus water owing to the mountains that easily trap terra cubic metres of water from the Senqu River, Vaal and Orange rivers amongst other water streams. ENDS