Water is scarce yet vital in Botswana's desert climate. As one of only two perennial surface sources, the Okavango Delta has often been seen by the Government and international donors as under-utilised and ripe for development. Hence the major project proposed in the early 1980s by the Department of Water Affairs (DWA), albeit suspended, nearly a decade later, after both local and global protests. This article examines how a small group of state bureaucrats was able to control the decision-making process, and discusses the implications of this hegemony. It is based on research undertaken in Botswana during 1991–3 that included over 150 interviews with the members of a wide range of organisations in the public, parastatal, and private sectors.