The North-South Carrier (NSC) is a pipeline in Botswana that carries raw water south for a distance of 360 kilometres (220 mi) to the capital city of Gaborone.

[2] A proposed extension to deliver water from the Zambezi would add another 500 to 520 kilometres (310 to 320 mi) to the total pipeline length.

[7] Almost all rainfall occurs in the summer months of October through April, at a time when temperatures over 30 °C (86 °F) cause high levels of evaporation.

[11] Exploitation of coal deposits in Botswana related to the South African Waterberg coalfield will also contribute to demand for water.

[12] Water from the Dikgatlhong Dam, completed in 2012, will be used in part to supply the large coalfield and power station at Mmamabula via the NSC pipeline.

[13] The Botswana National Water Master Plan (NWMP) identified promising sites for reservoirs in the northeast on the small, ephemeral[b] Motloutse and Shashe tributaries of the Limpopo River.

[6] A 1994 review of environmental assessments conducted for the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, which provided some of the funding for the project, concluded that the impact of the pipeline would be tolerable.

Plans for construction of the 28 metres (92 ft) high rock-filled Letsibogo Dam on the Motloutse River also included careful environmental impact assessment studies.

[1] The pipeline plan included four pumping stations and a water treatment plant at the terminus just north of Gaborone.

[21] The project included installing the pipeline itself, as well as pumping stations, water treatment plants, storage and balancing reservoirs, measurement and control systems and infrastructure.

[5] There were problems in laying the glass-reinforced piping, which caused the original January 1999 target completion date to be missed.

A revised target date of June 2000 was also missed, with further delays caused by failures of the pipeline and pumping station equipment.

[24] Construction of the Dikgatlhong Dam on the lower Shashe River began in March 2008 and was completed slightly ahead of schedule in December 2011.

The three independent pipelines would provide greater security and redundancy, although they would be operated using an integrated communication and control system.

The contractors, China State Construction Engineering Corp and the local Excavator Hire, had 350 employees, 75 of whom were Chinese.

There were some concerns that further delays could occur if there were problems with blasting along the section from the Letsibogo Dam to the Moralane break-pressure tank and pumping station.

[2] In the 1980s and early 1990s the Botswana and South African governments began discussing the possibility of drawing water from the Zambezi River and feeding it into the North-South Carrier.

The two countries even speculated about "diverting the Zambezi River at Kazungula", a prospect that was not welcomed by the other members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

[10] The NWMP included plans for the Chobe/Zambezi Transfer scheme, taking about 495,000,000 cubic metres (400,000 acre-feet) annually from the Zambezi for use in agriculture by 2022.

It is possible that transferring water-intensive industries to water-rich regions may be a more cost-effective approach with lower impact on the environment.

[34] The estimated US$120 million[35] spent on Phase 1 of the North-South Carrier could perhaps have been better allocated to other projects, with the government charging more realistic rates to encourage consumers to reduce their water usage, and with more emphasis on efficient use of existing supplies.