Damming the Okavango River

Information & Discussion on Botswana Game Parks
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PRWIN
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Re: Damming the Okavango River

Post by PRWIN »

Amoli wrote:I will google it - but I was under the impression that it ran West to East. 0*\
Maybe I was wrong.
As far as I know it runs west to East, that was looking at the flow when we where there. One good point is that it will flood that lovely camp we stayed at \O \O \O O/\ O/\ O/\


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iNdlovu
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Re: Damming the Okavango River

Post by iNdlovu »

There has been talk about this for at least 10 years, but so far nothing further has materialised. There was massive opposition from Botswana, although they did consider the benefits to the diamond mines around Orapa that could do with more cheap power.
The Okavango river has it's source in the Angolan highlands which normally has some pretty hefty rainfall November, December each year, the water then flows down in to the Delta, reaching the very north of the delta in April, it then fans out into millions of waterways, reaching the southern end each year around late June/July and then disappears into the sands of the Kalahari. This water is life giving stuff to the animals of this vast region who migrate to the delta in the dry seasons. Damming up the river at the Popa falls, which are really just a series of rapids, would be a catastrophe for a massive area and millions of animals and people.
The irony of it all is that Namibia wants to damn the river and they only have about 70 k's of the river flowing through their country in the Caprivi, if even that distance.
They also came up with the idea of damming the Ruacana river on the Angolan border, but so far, nothing has progressed.


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Amoli
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Re: Damming the Okavango River

Post by Amoli »

\O Thanks Indy.


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Tony
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Re: Damming the Okavango River

Post by Tony »

Thanks for the welcome to this forum. A big thanks too to you all for the information and input. I must do some digging of my own; and try to get hold of the book by Tony Park.
Thanks guys!


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