Botswana Travel Guide
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Geography note
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Botswana Travel Guide

Geography note



As with the whole Delta, the floods in this area are variable and unpredictable, in both duration and timing. The flood usually arrives between March and August, and remains for an average of four months. However, hydrologists note that there has been a measured decrease in the amount of water flowing down the Boro River since the late 1980s. In the 1994/5 period of water inflow, it was estimated that the lower Boro River received little over half of its long-term average. That water flow has since gradually decreased.
This could be explained by postulating that the western side of the Delta is gradually rising relative to the eastern side. Hence the Thaoge is gradually flooding less, and the Khwai is flooding more. The Boro is fairly central to the Delta, and derives its flow from the Nqoga River (the source of the Khwai River). However, it breaks from this at a very sharp, acute angle, and hence some experts suggest that it should be considered as being influenced the same way as the rivers on the western side of the Delta.
Having said all this, some say that changes in water flows could be caused simply by a hippo changing its regular path in the higher reaches of the Delta! Whatever the cause, this reduced flow isn’t necessarily good or bad for the visitor; but it is a help in understanding some of the gradual changes which are happening (over decades) to the area’s vegetation.


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