Proper management of water resources will result in quality water for all.
This was the key thrust of the 2nd Annual Seminar of WRM Partnerships in Action, which was held in Somerset West.
The seminar was jointly hosted by the Centre for Water and Sanitation Research (CWSR) at CPUT, the University of the Western Cape and the Breede-Gouritz Catchment Management Agency (BGCMA).
These three entities are collaborating in research and training in the areas of water resource assessment, catchment studies, water and agriculture, water services and sanitation as well as environment and water sustainability.
The collaboration is one of the most notable water research ventures to be undertaken in the Western Cape.
Addressing delegates, CEO of BGCMA, Phakamani Buthelezi, says he welcomes the partnerships.
“It is our ideal that we should have pristine rivers. This is not possible if we don’t have partners and engage in new ways of doing things,” he says.
“We must invest in research and think out of the box,” says Buthelezi, whose organisation oversees a number of water management areas in the Western Cape Province.
The collaboration between the entities kicked off in 2013, and Prof Alvin Lagardien, Director of CWSR says they looked at BGCMA needs when structuring the partnerships.
Lagardien says they have made progress in all the areas of collaboration, thanks to dedicated researchers and funding provided by the Netherlands based organisation, Nuffic.
“We are proud of how far we have come,” says Lagardien.
