The South African Academy of Engineering will present an open lecture by  Prof Mike Muller, “The wicked challenge of sustaining South Africa’s water security”,   at 19h00 on 18 June 2014 in the Dorothy Suskind Auditorium in the John Moffat Building on the campus of the University of the Witwatersrand.

Prof Mike Muller is a Professional Engineer and Fellow of the SAAE, SAICE and WISA. He is visiting Adjunct Professor at the Wits University Graduate School of Public and Development Management and a Commissioner in the National Planning Commission. He is a  former Director of the Department of Water Affairs. 

RSVP  to Heleen Duffey at office@saae.co.za before 11 June 2014 (for catering purposes).

Summary of lecture
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, liveli¬hoods, 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.