05 Jul 2023

The Maun water supply is dire, owing to the drying up of Thamalakane River, over-pumping and vandalism. Apprising councillors of the water situation in the district, Council Chairman, Cllr Itumeleng Kelebetseng, said the river contributed an average of 4 million litres, (4 mega litres) per day through Borolong Treatment Plant against a cumulative daily expectation of 13.95 mega-litres per day. 

He said Maun’s  daily demand stood at 15.62 mega-litres per day. 

The village had been grappling with a 1.67 mega-litres daily deficit, which now, owing to the drying of the river, had widened to 5.68 mega-litres per day. 

The deficit had forced Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) to implement a water supply demand management strategy in the village, which included optimising available sources, rationing, and bowsing to hard-hit areas. 

Those efforts were being rolled back by vandals, who were destroying water infrastructure across the village and district. He said: “Vandalism on water infrastructure results not only in supply disruption, but also in loss of treated water leading to high operational costs”. 

High on the list of vandalised infrastructure were boreholes and treatment plants from which thieves stole power cables, he said. 

Cllr Kelebetseng expressed concern that the water woes were likely to continue given the fact the Okavango Delta and Lake Ngami inflow monitoring, beginning 5^th May this year, had shown Okavango River water levels at Mohembo were continually decreasing, as once again they were lower than those of the preceding year. 

As the flood velocities were decreasing, so were water levels at both Shashe and Kunyere South wellfields, which supplied Maun, he said. 

He added the situation had been observed in 20 of 29 boreholes that were systematically monitored between January and March this year. 

The annual flood forecast for the Boro River system showed the waters were approximately 82km away from Maun, albeit with very low velocity, he said. 

Flood forecast for the Gomoti river system was about 43km enroute to Maun but also at low velocity. 

Indications however, were that the Gomoti River flow would reach the Thamalakane River before the Boro River as was the case during the last hydrological year, he said. 

The situation was equally desperate for Lake Ngami, whose tributaries, Xudum and Matsebe were also experiencing low flow and were 124 kilometres to the lake, he said. 

“Owing to the low velocity in the tributaries, WUC cannot accurately forecast when the annual floods will reach both Maun and Lake Ngami,” he said. 

The Okavango Delta and Thamalakane River depend on floodwaters from the Kavango and Kwando rivers in Angola – some 1600 kilometres away – which empty into Botswana at Mohembo. 

The amount of inflow depends on how much rain Angola’s highlands received and if there are any impediments, such as burnt brush along the river, which can slow down the waters, and lead to seep into the desert. ENDS