Water Conflict
Both Namibia and Botswana experience drought and as a result of this, there have been concerns about possible conflict over use of the river's water. Namibia has built a water canal, measuring about 300 km long, and has proposed a project to build a 250 km pipeline to divert water from the river into Namibia to help relieve the drought.
Botswana, however uses the Okavango Delta for both tourism income and a water source. The Department of Water Affairs in Botswana has submitted that 97% of the water in the river is lost through evaporation, so the country cannot afford to lose any extra water.
Namibia, in turn, has argued that it will only divert half a percent of the river's flow, and that it is entitled to any water that flows through its country. To deal with such issues, in 1994 Angola, Namibia and Botswana signed an agreement to form the Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission (OKACOM), to provide advice to the three countries about the best ways to share the Okavango River's resources.
Read more about this topic: Okavango River
Famous quotes containing the words water and/or conflict:
“It is by teaching that we teach ourselves, by relating that we observe, by affirming that we examine, by showing that we look, by writing that we think, by pumping that we draw water into the well.”
—Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881)
“Whether outside work is done by choice or not, whether women seek their identity through work, whether women are searching for pleasure or survival through work, the integration of motherhood and the world of work is a source of ambivalence, struggle, and conflict for the great majority of women.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)