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.