WATER RESOURCES IN THE SAVANNA REGIONS OF BOTSWANA

A.J.E. Els and K.M. Rowntree

A.J.E. Els and K.M. Rowntree, Geography Department, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa 
(A.J.E. Els and K.M. Rowntree)

Production and development in the savanna regions of southern Africa are primarily determined by interactions between the limitations imposed by ecological determinants (such as rainfall and soil quality) and the management strategies of the specific region. The former determine, to a large extent, the management policies necessary for sustainable utilisation of the natural components of savannas. This paper aims to give an overview of the water resources in Botswana as background to discussions on the sustainable utilisation of the savanna areas. Policies on water supply and demand will be investigated in terms of the equitable distribution of the resources in relation to the areas of demand, sharing of international river basins and the agreements related to sustainable utilisation of these global renewable water resources in Botswana, as well as the various regional factors influencing management decisions (such as the climate and population growth). Data was collected as part of a general assessment on the southern African savanna region.

Botswana is a semi-arid country in the centre of southern Africa, with a total area of 581 730 km². Only about 6.2 x 10⁶ ha of this area (approximately 10%) is cultivable land [FAO, 1995b]. Apart from the perennial rivers and wetlands in the north and the over-utilised Limpopo and its tributaries in the east, Botswana suffers from a lack of surface water and therefore development relies heavily on groundwater. Groundwater resources can be found almost everywhere in the region and is the main source for most of Botswana's towns and smaller settlements, the livestock industry, its power stations and many mining developments. Rural and remote towns are entirely dependent upon groundwater.

Water is a scarce resource in Botswana that undoubtedly needs good planning which should take into consideration both the short and long-term effects of its use. Botswana, Namibia and South Africa are the three countries in southern Africa already experiencing so-called 'water stress', in other words the countries have freshwater resources between 1 000 and 1 700m³ per person per year (UNEP, 1999). The scarcity of water in Botswana is related to a number of factors such as rapidly increasing population associated with a sharp increase in the demand for water, low and variable rainfall, high rates of evaporation, and high costs of the exploitation of existing surface water resources. As population increases, the demand for the resource increases. This may lead to its depletion if the rate of its replenishment is lower than the rate of its use. Areas of high population density tend to be associated with the mining of groundwater resources. At the current rates of abstraction, resource lifetime is limited to decades. Careful monitoring as well as hydrogeological knowledge is needed to secure the sustainability of this valuable resource. (Pallett, 1997).

According to Pearce et al. (1994), two rules of sustainability are relevant to the water sector; these are the 'Quantity and Quality Sustainability Rules'. The former requires that the quantity of water resources should not decline over time as this may reduce its total supply. It requires that the demand for water should be met from effective runoff as such a demand for water will not deplete groundwater resources (Kgathi, 1999). The latter principle of sustainability requires that the quality of water should not decline over time as this may also reduce the total supply of water. If the quality of water resources declines, heavy economic costs will be imposed on future generations, as they will inherit polluted water.

The availability of water in the environment is influenced by the climate. In southern African savannas water availability sets the limit for the amount of growth and development that can take place in the region. High temperatures lead to very high evaporation rates that deplete the already low rainfall (Pallett, 1997). In Botswana, the mean daily temperatures range from a minimum of 5ºC in winter to a maximum of 38ºC in summer (Kgathi, 1999). The mean annual rainfall for Botswana is 400 mm, ranging from 250 mm in the southwest to a maximum of 650 mm.yr^-1 in the extreme north (Pallett, 1997). There are no major mountain chains in Botswana, therefore spatial and seasonal variations in the climate are not very complex.

Statistics such as 'mean or average rainfall of 400 mm.yr^-1' tells nothing of either the seasonality or inter-annual variability in rainfall. In semi-arid regions such as Botswana the variability in the rainfall is more important than the actual rainfall itself. Over 90% of the rainfall in Botswana occurs during the summer from November to March, mainly in the form of scattered convective thunderstorms. Hailstorms are common at the beginning and end of the rainy season [FAO, 1995b]. The variability of rainfall, in terms of the amount and timing, as well as the length of the wet season, lead to higher risks in, for example, the cultivation of crops. The temporal distribution of rainfall in Botswana is extremely variable but tends to be more reliable in the north (Pallett, 1997).

There are numerous definitions for droughts: agricultural, meteorological, and economic definitions. Meteorological droughts adversely affected a country's agricultural production [Glantz et al., n.d.]. Humans can also create a drought situation through land-use choices or excess demand for water. The number of drought occurrences affecting the southern Africa region has been steadily increasing. In the latter half of the twentieth century, between 1988 and 1992, over 15 drought events affected this region, compared to fewer than five such events between 1963 and 1967 (Fig.1). Part of this trend can be tied to increased population growth and cultivation of marginal lands, while another part can be attributed to ENSO-related anomalies [Glantz et al., n.d.]. It is evident that from Fig. 1 that Botswana is a particularly drought prone country when compared to the rest of the southern African region in terms of the frequency and duration of drought events.

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Tables 1 and 2 give a summary of the water balance for Botswana in terms of the availability of the resources as well as the water withdrawal by the different sectors such as agriculture and domestic respectively. It is evident that Botswana suffers from a lack of internal renewable resources and therefore the potential for water transfers (as part of the global renewable sources) will become a major component of the water management of the country.

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2.2.1 River Basins

Although a river basin should be seen as the basic unit for integrated water management, political boundaries commonly lead to its fragmentation. Aspects such as water resources planning, development and management tends to be fragmented between local communities within a country or even between countries (Heyns, 1995). Water resources are shared amongst all the components of the environment, whether humans manage these resources or not. Water is shared between areas upstream and downstream, between rural and urban locations and between the natural and human environment, and amongst all the different people within the river basin. At a country level, it is therefore only possible to assess that part of the water resource generated within the country's borders [FAO, 1997].

Water resources in Botswana are generated within the basins of the four major rivers: the Limpopo, Okavango, Orange and Zambezi Rivers (Heyns, 1995). Fig. 3 illustrates the location of Botswana in terms of the major basins in the southern African region. It is important to note that, apart from the Okavango River, all shared river systems flow away from Botswana. Locally generated water resources, therefore, are mainly contributed to by the Okavango River basin.

Four countries in south-eastern Africa share the Limpopo basin: Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe (Fig. 3). This basin is extremely important to eastern Botswana as a source of surface water. Important tributaries in Botswana are the Crocodile River, which forms the border between Botswana and South Africa, and the Shashe River which originates in Botswana (Fig. 2).

The water resources of the Limpopo Basin have been extensively developed. More than 40 dams (three in Botswana) with a storage capacity of more than 12 x 10⁶m³ each have been built in the basin to supply water for cities and towns and to support industry and agriculture. A new dam, the Letsibogo Dam on the Motloutse River (a tributary of the Limpopo), is presently under construction to augment the water supply to Gaborone via the proposed North-South Water Carrier Project (NSWCP). It is also possible to augment the supply of water to Gaborone from the Molatedi Dam on the Great Marico Tributary of the Limpopo in South Africa. This dam has a capacity to supply 9.5 x 10⁶m³.yr^-1 to the Ngotwane River in Botswana (Heyns, 1995).

(b) The Okavango River Basin

The Cubango and Cuito Rivers flow for more than 600 km from the upper catchment in Angola in a southerly direction until they reach the west-eastern border between Angola and Namibia. From that point, the two rivers combine to form the Okavango River which then turns southwards again and ends in the inland Okavango Delta in Botswana [FAO, 1997]. The mean annual runoff of the Okavango River at Muhembo on the border between Botswana and Namibia is 10 000 x10⁶m³. The only major development of the water resources of the Okavango River or the Delta that has taken place in Botswana, is the Mopopi Dam (See Table 4). The dam was built to supply water to the Orapa diamond mine, 250km south-east of the end of the Delta, and has a capacity of 100 x 10⁶m³, covering 24.3km² at full supply (Heyns, 1995).

The institutional arrangements concerning the utilization of the Okavango Basin have been under discussion between the three basin States (Angola, Botswana and Namibia) since 1992. The existing Joint Permanent Water Commission between Botswana and Namibia was established to deal with the utilization and management of common water resources like the Okavango. In September 1994, a Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission (OKACOM) was established between Angola, Botswana and Namibia to serve as an instrument for cooperation between these riparian states (Heyns, 1995).

(c) The Orange River Basin

The Orange basin (Fig. 3) spreads over the four countries of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Lesotho (its source). The most important tributaries to the basin in Botswana are the Nossob River (which forms the border between southern Botswana and South Africa) and the ephemeral (periodically flowing) Molopo (Fig 2). Runoff from Botswana does not contribute to the main river as the flow of water via the Molopo is blocked by the Kalahari Desert (Pallett, 1997). Irrigation potential in the Orange basin for Botswana is negligible due to a lack of renewable water resources. The average annual precipitation in the basin area for Botswana is 295 mm.yr^-1, much less than the mean annual rainfall for Botswana of approximately 400 mm.yr^-1 [FAO, 1997].

(d) The Zambezi Basin

The Zambezi River Basin is the largest of the African river systems flowing into the Indian Ocean. It is shared by eight basin states and supports a population of more than 26 million people (Fig. 3). The Cuando River, draining the highlands in Angola (Kwando River in Namibia) links up to the Chobe River (near Kasane in Botswana) in years of exceptionally high rainfall. The objectives of the ambitious Zambezi Action Plan (ZACPLAN) include water transfers from the Zambezi to Gaborone (Botswana), Harare (Zimbabwe) and even Gauteng in South Africa (Pallett, 1997). Development in the Botswana region includes abstraction of water from the Zambezi at Katima Mulilo in the Caprivi Strip to augment the water supplies in Botswana and South Africa by the year 2020 (Heyns, 1995). However, the economical and environmental impacts of these projects require detailed investigation to allow informed decisions.

Although groundwater resources contribute to 65% of the total water available in Botswana, the quantity of groundwater resources is nonetheless limited. Recharge of aquifers ranges from over 40 mm/year in the extreme north to virtually zero in the central and western parts of the country. The average recharge is only 3 mm.yr^-1. The groundwater potential for Botswana is estimated to be 1.7 x 10⁹m³.yr^-1, but the extractable volume is only about 1.0 x 10⁹m³.yr^-1 and, in turn, only 1% of this is rechargeable (Kgathi, 1999 and FAO, 1995b). This means that the rechargeable volume of groundwater for Botswana is approximately 10 x 10⁶m³.yr^-1, which is less than 0.4% of Botswana's total renewable resources (Table 1).

Groundwater is supplied through boreholes for uses such as domestic and livestock. It is estimated that there are 15 000 boreholes in Botswana, scattered in various parts of the country (Kgathi, 1999 and FAO, 1995b). Total water abstraction in 1990 was 76 x 10⁶m³ from boreholes (760% more than the recharge rate), and is forecast to rise to 140 x 10⁶m³ annually by the year 2020. An analysis of water samples from 2 000 boreholes by the Water Affairs Department revealed that 340 (17%) of the boreholes showed signs of nitrate pollution which indicates that the sustainability of groundwater resources in terms of the quality is threatened by pollution. This is particularly evident in areas that are densely populated, such as south-eastern Botswana (Kgathi, 1999).

The total mean annual surface runoff (MAR) from catchments originating within Botswana is about 1.2 x 10⁹m³.yr^-1, of which about 60% comes from the contributory catchment of the Limpopo [FAO, 1995b]. Most of the surface water resources are located in the sparsely populated districts of Ngamiland and Chobe in northern and north-western Botswana where the perennial Chobe, Okavango, and Zambezi Rivers are found. As previously noted, these rivers are shared by a number of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) states such as South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. In the eastern part of the country, where more than 80% of the population lives, all the rivers are ephemeral (Kgathi, 1999).

Water sources located far from demand centres complicates the transport and distribution of water (Heyns, 1995). An attempt by the Government to develop additional surface water resources to cope with this problem has led to the North South Water Carrier Project. Phase I of this project involves the construction of the Letsibogo Dam near Mmadinare, about 20 km from Selibe Phikwe, and a 360 km pipeline transferring water to the greater Gaborone area (Botswana Government, 1997 and Kgathi, 1999). It is estimated that approximately19% of the MAR is already stored in a number of dams. Table4 represents the dams that have been constructed on some of the rivers such as Notwane, Shashe, Metsemotlhabe, Motloutse and Nnywane. The Gaborone dam is the largest with full capacity of 144 x 10⁶m³ (Kgathi, 1999).

The development of surface water in Botswana is constrained by a number of factors such as its low and erratic run-off, lack of the availability of suitable dam sites, and high rates of evaporation. Approximately 35% of the total water supply is from surface water, whereas the remainder (65%) is from groundwater. However, surface water accounts for 90% of the total supply of water in urban areas such as Gaborone, Lobatse, Francistown and Selibe-Phikwe (Kgathi, 1999). Apart from major rivers such as the Chobe and Limpopo tributaries, the Okavango Delta (one of two wetlands) forms a major part of the surface water resources in Botswana and is discussed in more detail below.

Wetlands are crucial for local human populations as they provide natural resources (such as reeds and wood), grazing for livestock, medicines, and boost the local economy through income generated by tourism. Wetlands also act as natural filters, trapping sediments and nutrients for life support. Although wetlands are limited to only a small portion of the total landscape, they are of the most threatened natural resources in many countries, especially arid ones such as Botswana. The RAMSAR Convention attempts to slow down the loss of wetlands and promote sustainable use for the benefit of mankind, creating a framework for development of resources in an environmentally sensitive manner, with long-lasting benefits (Pallett, 1997).

Rogers (1997) defines wetlands as "land where the water table is, at least periodically, at or above the land surface for long enough to promote formation of hydric (waterlogged) soils and the growth of aquatic plants". Two types of wetlands can be found in Botswana: swamps, which can be described as perennial, deep fresh-water situations (Okavango) and endorheic pans (Makgadikgadi Pans). The Makgadikgadi Pans, located in north-eastern Botswana, are ephemeral, shallow inundated depressions with no outlet, where the mean annual precipitation is less than 500mm (Rogers, 1997).

The Okavango Delta is not only the most spectacular of southern African wetlands, but it is also the world's largest inland delta. According to Macgregor (1991), the Delta can be divided into perennial and seasonal swamps. In dry seasons, the seasonal sections of the swamps are being encroached by cattle, which put immense pressure on the diversity of the delta's ecology. The floodplains of the Okavango River support over 1180 identified plant species and 84 species of fish, reflecting the richness of the habitat sustaining them. This richness has been threatened in recent years, especially to the north-east and south of the Delta where population and cattle density have shown large increases. Maun is a growing urban centre at the southern end of the Delta, with many people deriving their livelihood from 'molapo' (floodplain) farming in this area (Pallett, 1997).

The Department of Water Affairs (DWA) came under pressure during the droughts of the 1980s to develop water resources surrounding the Delta for domestic, agricultural and mining purposes. A feasibility study resulted in the proposal of the Southern Okavango Integrated Water Development Project (SOIWDP), which would involve dredging 42km of the Boro River and construction of several dams on adjoining rivers to improve and regulate outflows from the swamps (Macgregor, 1991). The plans were put on hold following an independent report by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in 1992. From an ecological point of view, it is unfortunate that the plans have only been put on hold and not abandoned as proposed by the IUCN as this might lead to reconsideration of the project in the future (Pallett, 1997).

The protection of wetlands should be subjected to a similar set of policies applied to other water users such as agriculture, industry and domestic water users. These include factors such as water rights, participatory approaches to involve local communities and indigenous people in the management of wetlands, education, public awareness, and legally enforceable regulations. In other words, conservation and wise use of wetlands must be an integral part of river basin management [Kinje, n.d.] and should be seen in a context of sustainable sharing of international water resources.

Water resources (both surface and groundwater) are not confined to one private property within a single country. Where large rivers or their tributaries flow from one country to another, or form the boundaries between countries, they are referred to as international rivers or shared watercourse systems. In the case of Botswana, 94% of the fresh water originates outside its borders and this contributes to the vulnerability of the country in many ways (Van Wyk, 1998). Sharing water should imply that everyone receives an equitable, beneficial and sustainably available portion. Water must be rationed among those who have interests in it through cooperation to achieve long-term goals. This has to be done in the context of a river basin as a complete, integrated unit and it is therefore imperative that the parties understand the complexities of water in the environmental system (Heyns, 1995). One method of achieving integrated management of an international river is to establish a permanent River Basin Organization (RBO). Each state with an interest in the drainage basin should be equally represented. Such an organization should investigate the sustainable potential of the river basin, with the assistance of competent specialists, and should aim towards agreement on the equitable and beneficial use of the water resources (Pallett, 1997).

The boundaries of eleven SADC states lie across fifteen major perennial and ephemeral river basins. At present there are approximately 21 agreements between different SADC countries concerning joint cooperation in various fields, including water resources of mutual interest. The commissions actively involved in the management of shared water resources in Botswana are listed below (Heyns, 1995 and Pallett, 1997):

• Agreement between Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe on the establishment of the Limpopo Basin Permanent Technical Committee (LBPTC), 15 June 1986, Harare, Zimbabwe.
• Agreement between the Governments of Botswana and Namibia on the establishment of a Joint Permanent Water Commission (JPWC), 13 November 1990, Windhoek, Namibia.
• Agreement between Angola, Botswana and Namibia on the establishment of a Permanent Okavango River Basin Commission (OKACOM), 15 September 1994, Windhoek, Namibia.
• Agreement between Botswana and South Africa on the establishment of a Joint Permanent Technical Committee (JPTC), November 1983. In June l989 the JPTC was replaced by a Joint Permanent Technical Commission on the Limpopo Basin and this, in turn, was replaced by another Water Commission in November 1995.

Apart from the four commissions established in Botswana, the country is actively involved with two other multinational agreements on water related manners:

• Established in 1948, the Southern African Regional Commission for the Conservation and Utilisation of the Soil (SARCCUS) between Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.
• The Declaration, Treaty and Protocol on the establishment of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), signed on 17 August 1992, Windhoek, Namibia.
• In August 1995, Botswana signed the SADC Protocol on Shared Watercourse Systems together with all but three of the SADC member states.

3. Management
3.1 Institutional structure

It is essential that water resources management should be operated within the SADC framework of sustainability, implying efficiency and equity of water use and supply. Many developing countries have institutional frameworks and agricultural policies that discriminate against the rural sector. Under-investments occur in technology development and dissemination, leading to discrimination against private sector initiatives in food marketing, and failure to maintain existing, or invest in new, rural infrastructure [Kinje, n.d]. With the assistance from the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA), the Government of Botswana has provided reliable water supplies with reasonable access to 80% of rural villages. The sinking of boreholes near villages and piping the water to several evenly distributed standpipes contributed to access to water supplies (Simpson-Hebert, 1994).

A number of institutions are involved in the activities of the water sector. The Ministry of Mineral Resources and Water Affairs (MMRWA) has the overall responsibility for policies in the water sector. Groundwater protection and monitoring are the responsibilities of the Department of Water Affairs (DWA), supported by the Department of Geological Survey (DGS). The DWA is also responsible for the water supply to rural areas, for surface water development and planning, as well as protection from pollution and aquatic weeds. The Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) is responsible for the water supply to six urban/mining sectors, except the Orapa diamond mine (supplied directly by mining company). The Ministry of Local Government, Lands and Housing (MLGLH) is responsible for the operation and maintenance of water schemes in medium and small-sized rural villages as well as waste water management (Botswana Government, 1997 and Kgathi, 1999).

Policies on water resources can be generally categorized as supply or demand-oriented. The former is aimed at developing water resources in order to meet the projected demand, whereas the latter is aimed at reducing the demand for water (Kgathi, 1999).

"Supply management requires the development of affordable self-financing facilities for bulk water supplies, programmed to meet expected increases in requirements with an appropriate degree of assurance", (Pallett, 1997, p.102). With this is mind, it is essential that water supplies should be managed in terms of the relation between the amount of water required in various sectors of an economy, and the contribution of the respective sectors to the Gross National Product (GNP).

In 1995, the population of major villages ranged from 3 500 to 37 000 people and rapid population growth (sometimes averaging more than 7% per year) aggravated the water supply problems experienced (Constantinides and Kolovopoulos, 1995). Management-related problems of supply systems usually include factors such as the lack of reliable information, policies and programmes to maintain and expand existing systems (Higham, 1998). As part of Botswana's National Development Plan 8 (NDP 8), a three-year programme for upgrading supply systems in major villages was launched in 1996. This involves aspects such as computerised operations, hand-held meters and metering procedures, computerised billing, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Management Information Systems (MIS), and Engineering Analysis Systems (Constantinides and Kolovopoulos, 1995).

Before the system was operational, as much as 30% of the water supply was unaccounted-for (in some villages even up to 70%). A lack of reliable information makes effective management and control of supply systems very difficult. Soon after implementation, this system has already satisfied many objectives in supply management such as (Stadler, 1997):

• Improved data collection and, therefore, better data quality
• Better operational and maintenance procedures
• Better management controls
• Improved debt recovery
• Identification and monitoring of unaccounted-for water
• Effective monitoring, control and management of water supply networks.

Some 17 villages, with up to 6 000 meter connections per village, are covered by the computerised Integrated Information Systems (IIS) at DWA and this has vastly improved the efficiency of the day-to-day operations within the department as these IIS have sufficient functionality to cover most of the requirements in the maintenance, operation, management, design and planning of water supply systems. The volume of unaccounted-for water dropped from 48% to 10% (saving approximately 2 650m³ per day) in one village alone (Stadler, 1997).

In addition to the North-South Water Carrier Project (NSWCP), an attempt will be made to construct a number of small to medium scale dams for conjunctive use with groundwater in the rapidly growing rural villages during the period of NDP 8 (1997/98 - 2002/03). This will be directed mostly to the south-eastern part of the country (the hardveld) where suitable dam sites can be found. In the sandveld Ghanzi and Kgalagadi Districts, where there are no suitable dam sites, attempts will be made to identify suitable aquifers for obtaining groundwater (Kgathi, 1999).

Groundwater resources will be monitored in order to ensure that extraction does not exceed the sustainability of yields. A number of measures such as recycling of water and desalination should also enhance water supply. The modalities of waste-water recycling at household level are still being worked out by the WUC and it is anticipated that one of the constraints may be cultural factors. Desalination technology will be used to improve the quality of water in Sandveld Botswana where ground-water sources usually become saline (Kgathi, 1999).

As part of agricultural water supply, irrigation is the key to the national strategy to increase food production in Botswana. Little or no land has a rainfed growing period of above 200 days [Kinje, n.d.] and food demands cannot be met from low-input rainfed farming alone. Failures of large-scale irrigation systems over the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa suggest a need for the implementation of small-scale irrigation as an alternative. It is essential, however, that the success or failure of both large- and small-scale irrigation systems should not be determined by the size of the system, but rather the extent of control by the farmers themselves. The quality of management and equitable distribution of income to farmers within the system are very important determinants of the success of water supply systems for agriculture.

Responsibility for planning and implementation of irrigation development rests with the Ministry of Agriculture. The Director of Water Affairs is the Registrar of the Water Apportionment Board and acts as Technical Adviser to the Board. The Water and Borehole Acts are administered by the Board and require individuals or groups to apply for a right to use irrigation water [FAO, 1995b].

Cheap small pumps for drawing water from shallow aquifers, rivers, streams and dams; private and individual arrangements for operating the systems; adequate supporting infrastructure to permit access to inputs and to markets for the sale of surplus production; high and timely cash returns to the farmers; and active and committed participation of the farmers in project design and implementation are all important conditions for success of small-scale farmer-operated irrigation. Women, more than men, are often involved in small-scale irrigation development and they face a large variety of social, economic and cultural constraints to participating effectively in irrigation development and management.

Some of the key issues in long-term water supply and demand management in Botswana include the following (Arntzen and Kgathi, in press):

• Increased water demand in the domestic, commercial and urban sectors as well as large rural settlements
• Increased water demand in the formal sector at the expense of the informal sector
• Demand increase will be highest for south-eastern Botswana (both surface and groundwater)
• Beyond 2020 water demand will equal supply and the country will have to rely on shared watercourse systems, and
• Waste water as a potential non-potable (short-term) and potable (long-term) source to meet demands.

Water management strategies may be economic and non-economic in nature. Economic measures include various measures such as pricing policy and allocation of property rights over the use of water. Non-economic measures include population control, the use of regulations to control water demand, promotion of public awareness about the importance of water, reduction of reticulation and other losses of water production, and the use of water efficient appliances. The main objective of water demand management should be to move away from conventional water supply systems and to look at alternative sources such as desalinisation, rain water collection, re-use of waste water, etc. (Arntzen and Kgathi, in press).

The NDP 8 shows more commitment to the use of non-economic measures of water demand management than the previous plans. For example, it suggests that the use of water tariffs to reduce water demand must be complemented by educational campaigns on water conservation and the use of water saving technologies (Botswana Government, 1997). The use of pricing policy to reduce water demand is being constrained by factors such as a lack of meters and the abuse of communal standpipes by people collecting water for the purpose of watering cattle in nearby rural areas. These factors should be addressed in order to promote water conservation. The urban tariffs need to be reviewed to reflect the wider social costs and should, therefore, not be based narrowly on the costs of labour and capital alone (Kgathi, 1999).

It is essential to implement or introduce non-economic and conservation measures such as the use of regulations, public campaigns on water conservation, water re-use and rain water collection to water resource management in Botswana. Probably most important of all, adoption of policies on population stabilization should be incorporated into the water management strategy. It is estimated that population may double after a period of twenty years, implying that the demand for water should also double, as there is a very strong correlation between population and water demand. In addition, the demand for water may further be increased if the outputs of agriculture, industry and commerce are expanded in line with the development strategy of the Government. It is evident, therefore, that a carefully worked out water management strategy in Botswana is urgently needed.

As populations grow, cities become bigger and the industrial sector develops. Environmental demands for water are therefore bound to come into direct competition with the agriculture, household, and industrial sectors, using water for directly productive purposes. Although urban areas fall within the savanna region of Botswana, urbanisation has altered the savannas to such an extent that water management of these areas should not affect the sustainability of savanna directly. Emphasise should rather be on the rural component where practises such as irrigation and livestock have a much more direct influence on the sustainable utilisation of the savanna regions.

Riparian countries sharing major river basins should not allow badly planned development and deterioration of the environment to ruin the chances of optimum utilisation of the natural resources for further generations. Serious attention should be given to using an international, integrated, holistic basin approach to regulate and manage the shared water resources. Countries therefore need to establish reliable communication channels open to discussion and the exchange of views to facilitate mutual, beneficial cooperation for better management of shared water resources. This will serve to promote the sustainable and environmentally acceptable resource development as the equitable and beneficial allocation of water for different uses will be facilitated.

Sustainable utilisation of water resources is therefore only feasible when the following aspects are recognised and practised or implemented according to local conditions within the river basin: ecological aspects, including factors such as enhancement of the river ecology, maintaining savanna diversity within the catchment and maintain the existing quality and quantity of water; social aspects should be aimed at increasing the number of jobs, increased quality and availability of water, maintaining community cohesion and improved health; and economical aspects including, support of the growth of the GDP, improved standards of living, expansion of small business and/or farmers, and increased investment.

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http://www.fao.org/waicent/FaoInfo/Agricult/AGL/AGLW/AQUASTAT/afric.htm.

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