Past events

EIANZ Seminar: Transboundary water resources management in Southern Africa – challenges and lessons

12–1.30pm

27 May 2010

DEWHA Bunker Theatrette

John Gorton Building

Parkes Pl, Parkes

Canberra, ACT

Speaker: Erik van der Berg

The Southern African sub-region has many major internationally shared river basins, of which the four largest basins are the Zambezi, Orange, Okavango and Limpopo river basins. Southern Africa’s freshwater resources are a central component of many economic activities. Several basins are also recognized as globally significant from a biological diversity perspective. Due to the region’s relative water scarcity, the international basins in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are regularly included among the world’s hydropolitical hot spots.

Water resources are relatively scarce, extremely volatile and mostly located in international river basins, which make these basins crucial for the development of the entire region. The area grapples with water shortages due to the climate and weather extremes, while the demand for water is increasing due to high population growth and increasing industrial and agricultural development. Southern Africa is among the few regions in the world for which most global climate models agree upon an increased future aridity and hence a further lowering of water availability.

There has been good progress in regional water sector reforms since the late 1990s, with an increasingly integrated approach to water resource management. Southern Africa now has extensive experience in negotiating water treaties and implementing joint management bodies, with most of the many international water treaties in the region having been negotiated since the mid 1980s. These existing efforts for international river management are valuable. This is why we ask if and how these initiatives can provide guidance for the resolution of transboundary problems along other international waterways.

Experience from involvement with transboundary basin studies, institutional planning and implementation and country and stakeholder processes will be shared. Different countries have different agendas and expectations, and expect different outcomes from inter-basin studies and management. While focusing on the largest regional transboundary river basins, challenges will be identified and lessons learnt will be described. We will interrogate how we can bring the thought leadership of the Southern African knowledge and experience in transboundary water resources management to contribute to challenges and solutions towards the planning for water resource management in Australia.

The Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand ACT and Surrounds Division would like to thank The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts for the use of its facilities.

Please distribute this invitation to colleagues and networks.

http://www.eianz.org/

Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand

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Past events