of its groundwater, but this requires closer monitoring and
control of how much we use and for what purposes.
“We continually need to strive to a southern African
response to regional water needs — in other words, sharing
water between those southern African countries that have
water to spare and those that don’t have enough. This could
conceivably be achieved along the lines of how we pool our
electricity resources,” he says.
“Along our coasts we already have some towns
desalinating seawater — the technology is there to generate
usable water quality, although the high cost of doing this is
still an issue.”
Shepherd has been involved in the field of hydrology for
more than two decades, and his specialisation falls into the
areas of storm rainfall estimation, flood lines, dam hydrology,
mine water management, river hydrology, maximising
development in respect of potential flooding, water supply,
strategic water assessments, and flood management.
Shepherd studied at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, in
Pietermaritzburg, and graduated in 1990 with a Bachelor of
Science degree in geography and hydrology. He then went
on to complete his Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in
hydrology the following year.
“After spending a year overseas, I joined SRK
Consulting, realising that South Africa was the place to
be. Being a water-scarce country, constantly plagued by
floods and droughts, where else would a hydrologist want
to work? South Africa has been a great place to develop
as a professional in the water field and the future in water
management has many opportunities for young enthusiastic
people,” he notes.
Shepherd says he started his career in the development
of stormwater management plans in various municipalities
in the greater Johannesburg area, and used this knowledge
to work increasingly in water management in the mining and
industrial sectors.
“The 1990s saw a turning point in the management
of water in these sectors, so it was an exciting time
Peter Shepherd
Best place to be
Peter Shepherd is a princ ipal hydrologist
and partner at SRK Consulting.