OPEN LECTURE

“The Wicked Challenge of Sustaining South Africa’s Water Security”  to be presented by Professor Mike Muller former Director General of the Department of Water Affairs


Seminar Room, Chemical Engineering Building, UCTThursday, 7 November 2013, 17h30-18h30

Repeated warnings about water crises have not materialised. The country has not faced rolling wash-outs or dry outs. There have been no electricity blackouts caused by a shortage of cooling water for electricity generation, and the City of Johannesburg has not been dissolved by an underground sea of acid mine drainage water. 

 If the job of water managers is to achieve water security – the availability of an acceptable quantity and quality of water for health, liveli­hoods, ecosystems and production, coupled with an acceptable level of water-related risks to people, environments and economies – then, to date, we have been successful, despite our difficult physical, social and political climate.  The challenge is to sustain and strengthen this water security in the future. 

Contrary to popular perceptions, the main threat to water security is not that the country is running out of water; that pollution is causing irreversible damage; or that climate change is as significant as many believe, although the next major drought will reveal many hidden weaknesses.

This presentation will consider some of the less obvious but more significant difficulties that confront water managers and the South African community, and what is needed to address these difficulties.

 This lecture is open to the public, and will be followed by light refreshments (courtesy of the South African Academy of Engineering - SAAE)

 Please RSVP for catering purposes to Ms Heleen Duffey by Friday, 1 November 2013:   office@saae.co.za