News from the South African water sector July 2012

Abstract

Fluid Thoughts Fluid Thoughts WRC CEO, Dhesigen Naidoo Converging the ‘discovery’ of Africa’s groundwater resources, South Africa’s infrastructure strategy as part of the New Growth Path and the 100th year anniversary of the national water department. In April this year the airwaves were abuzz with breaking news from the BBC that scientists at the British Geological Survey had made the great discovery of the vast amounts of water in dry Africa. The article in Environmental Research Letters conveys that the mapping of Africa’s groundwater resources reveals that the continent has 100 times more water below the surface than on it. as fossil aquifers. Even so, given the dire state of water availability on the surface many argue that this resource should be tapped into. So how do we get water out from deep underground thousands of kilometres into the desert to where we can usefully use it? It’s a question of infrastructure.

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