Water is a precious resource without which life as we know it would not exist. Generally, Botswana’s climate is characterized by low rainfall and high evapotranspiration rates, making reliance on surface water difficult, for that reason, the importance of our groundwater resources cannot be overemphasized as they are a reliable natural resource.
Groundwater is abstracted for use in supplying both rural and urban centres, industries including mines, energy sectors such as power plants and the agriculture sector in which most Batswana are dependent on.
Botswana Geoscience Institute, with expertise in geoscientific research and advisors with respect to geohazards, promotes sustainable development and management of Botswana’s precious groundwater resources by carrying out research to encourage aquifer protection and safe disposal of hazardous waste. The unit carries out various groundwater monitoring projects to monitor contamination from source and implement mitigation measures to prevent pollution. It also informs on geohazards that may cause contamination of groundwater such as floods and earthquakes. The Institute also monitors hazards caused by groundwater interactions with infrastructure such as rising damp and seepage problems.
Being the custodian of all geoscience data, BGI is better placed to give advice with regard to groundwater potential and groundwater vulnerability of aquifer units in Botswana, thereby making the institute a one-stop centre for all groundwater-related matters.
