Title of the Talk: The role of transboundary aquifers in improving water security in southern Africa: The Case of Stampriet and Ramotswa Transboundary Aquifers.

Piet Kenabatho is an Associate Professor of Hydrology and Water Resources at the University of Botswana. He holds a Ph.D. in Hydrology and Water Resources from Imperial College London and an MSc in Hydrology for Environmental Management from the same university. He is an Environmental Hydrologist/geohydrologist with more than 20 years of professional experience in applied hydrology, hydrogeology, surface-groundwater resource development, and modeling at local and transboundary levels. He has a wealth of experience in transboundary water cooperation, integrated water resources management for efficient use and management of water resources in semi-arid areas. His recent work at SADC level involves a 9-year transboundary groundwater project known as the Stampriet Transboundary Aquifer System (STAS) shared between Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa, where he led the Botswana Team as a Hydrologist/hydrogeologist working alongside UNESCO-IHP, ORASECOM and the three governments sharing the STAS with the ultimate goal of using science to inform the development of a governance mechanism for the STAS at ORASECOM Secretariat (https://wis.orasecom.org/stas/ ). He was also involved in the assessment of other transboundary aquifer systems such as the Ramotswa Transboundary Aquifer basin, the Eastern Kalahari Karoo Transboundary Aquifer (EKKTBA), among others, working with institutions such as the SADC-Groundwater Management Institute (GMI), International Water Management Institute (IWMI) which led to the development of numerical groundwater models for these aquifers as well as  assessment of the effects of climate change on these resources. In Botswana, he is a Board Member for the Water Utilities Corporation and a former Board Member for the Water Apportionment Board. Regionally, he is a Board Member for the Global Water Partnership-Southern Africa, and he has recently been appointed the inaugural Chairman for the AUDA/NEPAD Southern African Network of Water Centres of Excellence (SANWATCE) coordinated by the Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Prof Kenabatho also serves an Academic and Scientific Advisory Committee of the Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL) for the Graduate studies programme in Integrated Water Resources Management (SGSP-IWRM) hosted by Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST). Windhoek, Namibia.