Botswana faces the possibility of its Gaborone Dam drying up by September this year if the country does not receive adequate rainfall before August.

Erratic rainfall over the last three years has caused water problems for the country which declared a drought in 2012.

The water level of the Gaborone Dam, which was 25.7% at the end of April last year, now stands at a mere 14.4%. It has been four months since the dam has had any inflow.

Botwana’s Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) water resource manager Joel Selemogwe told Africa Review that, at current usage levels, the WUC expects the dam to dry up in the next four months. If the dam does dry, the greater Gaborone area will experience a shortfall of 50 million litres per day.

Unfavourable climatic conditions and erratic rainfall over the last three years have caused the country’s water woes, Africa Review reported. In some instances 70% to 90% of the country’s total annual rainfall may occur in one month.

With a population of more than 500 000 people, Gaborone uses up to 145 million litres of water daily.