SERA Water Task Team member, Dr Anthony Turton of the CSIR.

CSIR researcher, UP political scientist and SERA Water Task Team member, Dr Anthony Turton has launched a report that he co-authored with Task Team leader Dr Pete Ashton. The publication was launched during World Water Week on 20-26 August and is titled "Hydropolitical Vulnerability and Resilience along International Waters" (abbreviated to Atlas), and details Africa's hydropolitical climate.

The sharing of water resources puts nations at risk of conflict, with this made more acute by climatic variations in precipitation. "Atlas" is the first in a five-part series of reports that will span continents, starting with Africa, where most major rivers, freshwater lakes, and aquifers are shared by two or more countries, who might be hostile towards each other.

As the Atlas explains, Africa is the leading developing-world continent where multiple region-wide and sub-regional entities are working to guide and support the efforts of nations to seeking cooperative ways of developing, managing, and sharing the multiple-use potential of their shared water resources. "It is significant that Africa is not portrayed as a basket case," says Turton. "My view is that in water resource management, Africa is actually at the cutting-edge. So instead of having to learn from the West, we can stand proud and be equal, possibly even teaching a few lessons at the same time. For me, as an African, it is one small step towards intellectual equity in a global market that is generally skewed against us."

The 148-page publication consists of a series of spatially represented maps and data. "It is more than a traditional atlas because such books usually feature nation states as the units. This Atlas uses river basins as the unit which makes it unique in the literature. Our point of departure was the river basin, not the nation state or country, which are in most cases 'unnatural' in the sense that they are anthropogenic 'fictions, "he explains.

The Atlas has applied science at different levels through GIS and data collection to produce material that is accessible to laypeople. "It is science in the service of society", says Turton. The style and language has been crafted to speak to policy makers and non-specialists, and Turton also hopes the Atlas can be integrated into the school curriculum in future. "I will do whatever I can to enable this to happen. We need to teach the next generation about subjects that will impact on them directly and in the context of Southern Africa water constraints, will define the future economic potential that the next generation will live through."

Work on the Atlas was staggered over a two year period peppered with challenges. Data scarcity and countering "Afropessimistic" views expressed by some non-African project members were other problems. "There are still major data shortages and it is our hope that the Atlas will be seen as a quality product that needs support for future data collection. I hope this is the start of a journey and not a final destination", adds Turton.

The report is a collaboration between the United Nations Environment Programme and the Universities Partnership for Transboundary Waters, with Dr Turton having participated in his capacity as a political science lecturer at the University of Pretoria. The CSIR is also a member of the World Water Council - represented by the CSIR Relationship Manager for SERA, Khungeka Njobe.

For more information on the report, contact Dr Anthony Turton at +27 12 841 3957