Impacts for the 2016-2017 extreme rainfall and floods on water resources quality and quantity in SE Botswana

This series of datasets includes hydrological data (spatial-temporal groundwater and surface water levels and physico-chemical parameters, including electrical conductivity, pH, major ions, trace metals and stable isotopes) and dam sediment shallow core data (grain size, organic matter, trace metals), collected between 2017-2018 in the Gaborone catchment, Botswana, and the resulting hydrogeological conceptual model of groundwater-surface water interactions.

Data were collected under the PULA project, a NERC Urgency funded project involving the University of Aberdeen, the Botswana International University of Science and Technology, the Botswana Department of Water Affairs, and the International Water Management Institute.

The project examined the water quality, water level and sedimentary response following the major, destructive floods that occurred in the catchment in 2016-2017 in order to better understand the impact of extreme rainfall and floods on both groundwater and surface water resources, with a specific focus on the mechanism of resources replenishment and potential release of contaminants.