{"id":33229,"date":"2023-08-26T06:53:41","date_gmt":"2023-08-26T06:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/okavango-at-risk-of-being-contaminated"},"modified":"2023-08-26T07:38:21","modified_gmt":"2023-08-26T07:38:21","slug":"okavango-at-risk-of-being-contaminated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/okavango-at-risk-of-being-contaminated","title":{"rendered":"Okavango at risk of being contaminated"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>Despite claims by Namibia\u2019s Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism, that exploratory drilling for oil and gas by the Canadian company Reconnaissance Energy Africa (ReconAfrica) in Namibia\u2019s Kavango Basin will not impact the Okavango Delta, a recent report claims that there are high chances of potential groundwater contamination from oil drilling in the Okavango.<\/b><\/p>\n

The report authored by R. Sheldon, S. Esterhuyse, A. Lukas and S. Greenwood titled \u201cPotential groundwater contamination from oil drilling in the Okavango\u201d notes that plans to exploit the potential oil reserves in the Cubango Okavango river basin (CORB) in Namibia and Botswana will have a major impact on the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also plotted the major geological structures, calculated flowpaths, and estimated travel times for contaminated groundwater that may travel along these preferential flowpaths from the drill sites to the Okavango River and Delta. Results indicate that contaminated groundwater from the oil lease areas could take 3\u201323.5 years to reach the Okavango River system via the shallow sandy aquifer, but in a worst-case scenario, contamination could reach the Delta within four days via structures associated with dykes and faults that serve as primary flowpaths,\u201d states the report.<\/p>\n

In addition, the report notes that \u201csuch contamination could adversely affect human health and the region\u2019s ecosystems and biodiversity. We recommend prohibiting oil exploration and production activities within the CORB until future studies can determine the impacts of hydrocarbon extraction with greater certainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report further emphasises that a unique flow of groundwater from the Botswana lease area toward the Okavango River Basin can be seen in the country\u2019s shallow sandy aquifer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe calculated time for groundwater to travel from the selected sites in the lease areas to the Okavango River system via the shallow sandy aquifer is rapid, given the high hydraulic properties of the aquifer,\u201d states the report.<\/p>\n

A growing number of people are opposed to exploration, which will eventually lead to drilling if commercially significant amounts of oil and gas are discovered. In 2021, National Geographic highlighted that \u201cWringing oil from rocks deep underground requires massive quantities of water, which is scarce in the parched region, and few other water sources are available for people and wildlife during the long dry season. Furthermore, any contamination of the river could be carried downstream into the delta.\u201d The Okavango Delta\u2019s ecosystem is intimately correlated with the state of Botswana\u2019s economy since it provides livelihoods for a large number of people through agriculture, tourism, animal husbandry, and fishing.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. Despite claims by Namibia\u2019s Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism, that exploratory drilling for oil and gas by the Canadian company Reconnaissance Energy Africa (ReconAfrica) in Namibia\u2019s Kavango Basin will not impact the Okavango Delta, a recent report claims that there are high chances of potential groundwater contamination from oil drilling in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":33228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-33229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nOkavango at risk of being contaminated - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Despite claims by Namibia\u2019s Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism, that exploratory drilling for oil and gas ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/okavango-at-risk-of-being-contaminated\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Okavango at risk of being contaminated\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite claims by Namibia\u2019s Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism, that exploratory drilling for oil and gas ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/okavango-at-risk-of-being-contaminated\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-26T06:53:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-26T07:38:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/08\/sm_1693022633.817507.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/okavango-at-risk-of-being-contaminated#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/okavango-at-risk-of-being-contaminated\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Okavango at risk of being contaminated\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-26T06:53:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-26T07:38:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/okavango-at-risk-of-being-contaminated\"},\"wordCount\":431,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/okavango-at-risk-of-being-contaminated#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/08\/sm_1693022633.817507.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/okavango-at-risk-of-being-contaminated#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/okavango-at-risk-of-being-contaminated\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/okavango-at-risk-of-being-contaminated\",\"name\":\"Okavango at risk of being contaminated - 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