Shashe River
| Shashe River | |
|---|---|
 Shashe River atShashi Irrigation Scheme,Zimbabwe | |
| Location | |
| Country | Botswana,Zimbabwe |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | northwest ofFrancistown,Botswana |
| Mouth | |
• location | Limpopo River |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 462 million cubic metres per year (14.6 m3/s; 517 cu ft/s)[1] |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Tati River,Ramokgwebana River,Thuli |
TheShashe River(orShashi River) is a major left-bank tributary of theLimpopo RiverinZimbabwe.It rises northwest ofFrancistown,Botswanaand flows into the Limpopo River where Botswana, Zimbabwe andSouth Africameet.[2]The confluence is at the site of theGreater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area.
Hydrology[edit]
The Shashe is a highlyephemeralriver, with flow generally restricted to a few days of the year. The river contributes 12.2% of the mean annualrunoffof the Limpopo Basin.[3]
Major tributaries of the Shashe River include theSimukwe,Shashani,Thuli,TatiandRamokgwebanarivers. The lower Shashe is a sand filled channel, with extensive alluvialaquifersin the river channel and below thealluvialplains. These supply water for a number ofirrigationschemes includingSibasaandShashi.
More than two million years ago,the UpperZambezi Riverused to flow south through what is now theMakgadikgadi Pan(presently a vast seasonal wetland) to the Shashe River and thence theLimpopo River.
Settlements[edit]
There is a road bridge and a rail bridge south ofFrancistown. The lower Shashe River forms the border between Botswana and Zimbabwe and is unbridged. However, atTuli,both sides of the river are in Zimbabwe and there are two legal crossing points. The Shashi runs through the Shashi Irrigation Scheme and theTuli Block.[citation needed]
Dams[edit]
The Shashe River is dammed near Francistown atShashe Dam.The original purpose was to supply water to the industrial city ofSelebi-Phikwe.[4] In 1982 it was found that groundwater from the local wells in Francistown had high levels of nitrate, and was also inadequate to meet public demand, so the public water supply for that city was changed over to using water from the Shashe Dam.[5] The dam also supplies water to surrounding villages, Phoenix Mine (Tati Nickel Mining Company/Norilsk Nickel) andMupane Gold Mine(IAMGOLD).[citation needed]
Further downstream, theDikgatlhong Damimpounds the Shashe near the village ofRobelela,completed in December 2011.[6] When full it will hold 400,000,000 cubic metres (1.4×1010cu ft). The next largest dam in Botswana, theGaborone Dam,has capacity of 141,000,000 cubic metres (5.0×109cu ft).[7] A pipeline from the Dikgatlhong Dam will connect to theNorth-South Carrier(NSC) pipeline at the BPT1 break pressure tank atMoralane. The NSC will take the water south toGaborone.[8]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
Citations
- ^A.H.M. Görgens and R.A. Boroto. 1997
- ^Shashe Sub-basinArchived2012-10-31 at theWayback Machine
- ^Görgens & Boroto 1997.
- ^Knight 1990,p. 402.
- ^Schmoll 2006,p. 284.
- ^Modikwa 2011.
- ^Dikgatlhong dam - Jeffares & Green.
- ^Paya, Matsiara, Bettesworth, et al. 2012,p. 3.
Sources
- "Dikgatlhong dam".Jeffares & Green. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-09-29.Retrieved2012-09-21.
- Knight, D.J. (1990-06-01)."The proven usefulness of instrumentation systems on varied dam projects".Geotechnical Instrumentation in Practice: Purpose, Performance and Interpretation: Proceedings of the Conference Geotechnical Instrumentation in Civil Engineering Projects.Thomas Telford.ISBN978-0-7277-1515-9.Retrieved2012-09-18.
- Modikwa, Onalenna (13 December 2011)."Dikgatlhong dam complete ahead of schedule".Mmegi.Archived fromthe originalon 21 June 2015.Retrieved2012-09-21.
- B. Paya; G.T. Matsiara; I.J. Bettesworth; M. van der Walt; P. du Plessis; B. Bosman; D. Stephenson; N. Mbayi; A. Keabetswe (2012)."BOTSWANA'S NORTH SOUTH CARRIER 2 WATER TRANSFER SCHEME"(PDF).WISA 2012 conference. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2016-03-03.Retrieved2012-09-22.
- Schmoll, Oliver (2006).Protecting Groundwater for Health: Managing the Quality of Drinking-Water Sources.World Health Organization. p. 284.ISBN978-92-4-154668-3.Retrieved2012-09-18.
- Görgens, A.H.M.; Boroto, R.A. (1997). "River: flow balance anomalies, surprises and implications for integrated water resources management".Proceedings of the 8th South African National Hydrology Symposium, Pretoria, South Africa.