Prof Palmer rejoins Rhodes

Former Rhodes University academic and researcher Professor Carolyn (Tally) Palmer was appointed by former Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Ms Buyelwa Sonjica to chair the new National Water Advisory Council (NWAC). The NWAC is waiting to be inaugurated by the new Minister, Mrs Edna Molewa.

The 15-member NWAC advises the Minister on vital issues related to water resources and water service management.

Prof Palmer also rejoined the staff of Rhodes this month as Director of the Unilever Centre for Environmental Water Quality, with the Institute for Water Research.

She has served as Executive Director of Applied Research and Innovation at the National Research Foundation (NRF) since 2009. Prior to that she spent four years in Australia where she was Director of the Institute for Environmental and Resource Management at the University of Technology in Sydney.

Rhodes University Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research & Development, Dr Peter Clayton, welcomed Prof Palmer's appointment to the NWAC. “It is huge recognition of her standing as a water related scientist and her contributions to water policy in South Africa, and it is exciting at many levels for our new initiatives and ongoing work in water at Rhodes University.”

Water-related research and teaching is one of Rhodes University’s significant strengths, he said.

The Institute for Water Research, within which the Unilever Centre for Environmental Water Quality falls, is renowned for hydrology and water management studies. There are also significant strengths in water-related issues in many other parts of the university.

Ms Sonjica said in a press statement that Prof Palmer brought a “wealth of experience in aquatic ecosystems and pollution research and research applications in water resource management”.

“In addition she has expert knowledge in the area of water resource management, regulation, mining and water quality, agriculture and climate change.”

Prof Palmer has made a significant contribution to water law and policy in South Africa. She co-edited and authored the White Paper on a National Water Policy for South Africa. She has also previously served on the NWAC as well as on the Board of the Water Research Commission where she was vice-chairperson.

Prof Palmer said she was “astonished, humbled, deeply honoured and grateful” to be appointed to head up the NWAC. “I am part of that privileged sector of society that owes a service to this country and I am deeply grateful to be able to contribute in this way.”

She said Ms Sonjica’s decision to recall the committee was “extremely timely action”.
It was essential to protect the country’s water resources so that users could continue being supplied with a range of water-related benefits from domestic supply and sanitation, water for industry and agriculture to benefits associated with recreation, tourism and deeper human well-being.

She said the National Department of Water Affairs was in the process of reviewing its National Water Resource Management Strategy. “The calling into being of the Council at a time when the strategy is being reviewed is very timely. I would envisage using this strategy process as a focus for the council.” She described the new council as “diverse and strong”.

Prof Palmer said she was also delighted to be back at Rhodes and in Grahamstown where she had lived for many years. She said her appointment to Rhodes and the NWAC was “serendipitous”. She added that there was too much to draw from Rhodes University and from the Eastern Cape context. There was a “potential powerhouse” in the strengthening of collaboration among Eastern Cape universities and there was an opportunity for the province to assume a leadership role in water issues.