Title:

Chapter 1: An introduction to the hydropolitical drivers in the Okavango River basin

Publication Year:
2003
Abstract:

The Okavango river basin is one of the last near pristine aquatic ecosystems on the African continent. This ecosystem is extremely complex, with occasional links to the Zambezi River via the Selinda spillway, which backs up in times of high flow in the Cuando/Chobe/Linyanti and floods into the Okavango Delta. There is also a downstream hydraulic connection from the outflow of the Okavango Delta to the Makgadikgadi saltpans, which are also fed via the Nata River from Zimbabwe. The whole Okavango system is endoreic in nature, with the floodwaters of both the Cuito and Cubango rivers that rise in the well-watered Angolan highlands, 'disappearing' into the sands of the Kalahari Desert and the 'thirsty' atmosphere above the Okavango Delta. The two downstream riparian states on the Okavango system - Namibia and Botswana - are extremely arid countries. In fact, the Kavango (as it is known in Namibia), or the Okavango (as it is known in Botswana), is the only exploitable perennial river that flows through the territories of both these sovereign states.

Publication Title:

Transboundary rivers, sovereignty and development: Hydropolitical Drivers in the Okavango River basin

Pages:
9-30
Item Type:
Book or Magazine Section
Language:
en

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