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The Shashe River (or Shashi River) is a major left-bank tributary of the Limpopo River in Zimbabwe. It rises northwest of Francistown, Botswana and flows into the Limpopo River where Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa meet.Shashe Sub-basin
The confluence is at the site of the
The Shashe River is dammed near Francistown at Shashe Dam. The original purpose was to supply water to the industrial city of Selebi-Phikwe.
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.
The dam also supplies water to surrounding villages, Phoenix Mine (Tati Nickel Mining Company/Norilsk Nickel) and Mupane Gold Mine (IAMGOLD).
Further downstream, the
The confluence is at the site of the
Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area
Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area is a cultural TFCA, formerly known as the Limpopo– Shashe Transfrontier Conservation Area.
History
Establishment
With the assistance of the Peace Parks Foundation, De Beers, the National Par ...
.
Hydrology
The Shashe River is a highly ephemeral river, with flow generally restricted to a few days of the year. The river contributes 12.2% of the mean annualrunoff
Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to:
* RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program
* Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed
* Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...
of the Limpopo Basin.
Major tributaries of the Shashe River include the Simukwe, Shashani, Thuli, Tati and Ramokgwebana
Ramokgwebana is a village in the North-East District (Botswana), North-East District of Botswana, close to the eastern border, which is defined by the Ramokgwebana River. Plumtree, Zimbabwe is on the other side of the border crossing.
The village ...
rivers. The lower Shashe is a sand filled channel, with extensive alluvial aquifers in the river channel and below the alluvial plains. These supply water for a number of irrigation schemes including Sibasa
Sibasa is a village in Limpopo Province, South Africa and the former capital city of the Venda bantustan. When Venda was declared independent in 1979, the capital was moved to Ṱhohoyanḓou.
Town 72 km north-north-east of Louis Trichardt ...
and Shashi
Shashi may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions China
*Shashi City (), Hubei from 1949 to 1994
*Shashi District (), Jingzhou, Hubei (historically, Shashi City) since 1994
** Apostolic Prefecture of Shashi
** Jingmen–Shashi railway, single-track ...
.
More than two million years ago, the Upper Zambezi River used to flow south through what is now the Makgadikgadi Pan (presently a vast seasonal wetland) to the Shashe River and thence the Limpopo River.
Settlements
There is a road bridge and a rail bridge south of Francistown. The lower Shashe River forms the border between Botswana and Zimbabwe and is unbridged. However, at Tuli, both sides of the river are in Zimbabwe and there are two legal crossing points. The Shashi runs through theShashi Irrigation Scheme
Shashi may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions China
*Shashi City (), Hubei from 1949 to 1994
*Shashi District (), Jingzhou, Hubei (historically, Shashi City) since 1994
** Apostolic Prefecture of Shashi
** Jingmen–Shashi railway, single-track ...
and the Tuli Block.
Dams
The Shashe River is dammed near Francistown at Shashe Dam. The original purpose was to supply water to the industrial city of Selebi-Phikwe.
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.
The dam also supplies water to surrounding villages, Phoenix Mine (Tati Nickel Mining Company/Norilsk Nickel) and Mupane Gold Mine (IAMGOLD).
Further downstream, the Dikgatlhong Dam
The Dikgatlhong Dam is a dam near the village of Robelela on the Shashe River in Botswana, completed in December 2011.
When full it will hold .
The next largest dam in Botswana, the Gaborone Dam, has capacity of .
Purpose
The dam is located on t ...
impounds the Shashe near the village of Robelela
Robelela is a village in Central District of Botswana. It is located south-east of Francistown, close to the border with Zimbabwe. The population was 471 in 2001 census.
Robelela in the Bobirwa Sub-District, is the village closest to the Dikgatl ...
, completed in December 2011.
When full it will hold .
The next largest dam in Botswana, the Gaborone Dam
The Gaborone Dam is a dam on the Notwane River in Botswana with a capacity of .
The dam is operated by the Water Utilities Corporation, and supplies water to the capital city of Gaborone.
Location
The Gaborone Dam is located south of Gaborone ...
, has capacity of .
A pipeline from the Dikgatlhong Dam will connect to the North-South Carrier
The North-South Carrier (NSC) is a pipeline in Botswana that carries raw water south for a distance of to the capital city of Gaborone.
Phase 1 was completed in 2000.
Phase 2 of the NSC, under construction, will duplicate the pipeline to carry ...
(NSC) pipeline at the BPT1 break pressure tank at Moralane
Moralane is a key site on the North-South Carrier (NSC), in Botswana, the main pipeline delivering raw water from the northeast to the Mmamashia water treatment plant just north of Gaborone.
Phase 1 of the NSC opened in 2000, delivering water f ...
.
The NSC will take the water south to Gaborone.
See also
* Geological changes to the course of the Zambezi River * Mathangwane Village * Thuli RiverReferences
Citations Sources * * * * * * {{Rivers of Zimbabwe Rivers of Botswana International rivers of Africa Botswana–Zimbabwe border Geography of Matabeleland South Province Tributaries of the Limpopo River