Caitlin Davies in Maun
GOOD rains in Namibia recently have delayed plans to pipe water from the Okavango River down to Windhoek – siphoning it off before it ever reaches the unique Okavango Delta in northern Botswana – but as far as Botswana is concerned, the controversy is not over yet.
Though everyone agrees the unexpected rainfall is welcome news, conservation groups in Botswana point out that the 250km pipeline still remains part of Namibia’s master water plan.
At a meeting of the Okavango River Basin Commission (Okacom) – formed specifically to ensure fair use of the water between Botswana, Namibia and Angola – in Windhoek last month, delegates were told dam inflows were good.
Moremi Sekwale, who heads Botswana’s delegation, says he wasn’t surprised at the news. “You underestimate the power of prayer,” he laughs. “We Batswana have been praying.”
The survival of the Okavango delta relies on enough water flow, as does the tourism industry and the people who depend on the water, fish and wildlife. Botswana’s needs are particularly crucial during years of low rainfall, and for the last five years, the level of the water in the delta has been steadily dropping.
Though the pipeline plan has been on the cards for at least 10 years, last June’s decision to fast-forward the project appeared to catch the Botswana government unawares.
“We knew at some point that they wanted a pipeline, but we didn’t expect it now,” said national Director of Water Affairs B Khupe after a meeting in the capital Gaborone.
Environmental agency Conservation International (CI) was similarly taken aback. According to co-ordinator Dr Karen Ross, CI was told by Namibian water officials at a meeting in Windhoek in 1995 that the pipeline would take five to 10 years. Then in April last year, the group was told it was full steam ahead for the project because of the urgency of the drought.
“People thought there would be ample time to study things. Now suddenly it’s here, it’s a reality,” said Lars Ramberg, director of the Okavango Research Centre, in October. “People here have every right to be concerned. The whole region is dependent on the delta and it would be the Kalahari Desert without it.”
Namibia initially said there was no time to study the pipeline’s impact on its neighbours. It then agreed last December to carry out an environmental impact assessment on the delta – which it claimed it could do before March.
But the rains don’t mean the project has been abandoned. Instead, both Ramberg and Ross say Namibia plans a bigger version of the pipeline in the near future.
While Ross believes “God has blessed the Okavango” with the summer rains, full studies on the environmental and social impacts of the pipeline are urgently needed under Okacom. But as Okacom’s study has not even started, the fear is that Namibia is still jumping the gun.
“Namibia intends to supply the long-term water demands of Windhoek forever.” says Ross. “The three nations of Botswana, Angola and Namibia need to sit down and agree.” – Okavango Observer