14 About the Authors

Eberhard Braune has had a 42-year career with the Department of Water Affairs, initially in South West Africa and then at the Head Office in South Africa, among others as Director of the Department’s Hydrological Research Institute and of the Directorate Geohydrology. There, he led the production of the first national hydrogeological map series for South Africa and published extensively for the Water Research Commission of South Africa. He holds a Master of Science degree (Engineering Hydrology) from Imperial College, London and a Doctorate degree (Science, Honoris Causa) from the University of the Western Cape. After retiring he joined the University of the Western Cape as an Associate Professor. His teaching focus in the Department of Environment and Water Science of the university has been Integrated Water Resources Management. Together with Professor Yongxin Xu, he served as specialist consultant to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in regard to groundwater resources management in Africa, with transboundary groundwater resources governance as his special interest. He recently helped with drafting a National Groundwater Strategy for South Africa. He has served for many years as chair of the South African chapter of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences and received Life Honorary Membership of the Groundwater Division of the Geological Society of South Africa.

Sumaya Israel is a Senior Lecturer in the Environmental and Water Science section of the Earth Science department at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), where she teaches and conducts research related to groundwater quality. Her undergraduate studies in Geology took place at UWC, while her Master (2007) and her Doctorate (2015) degrees were obtained from Stellenbosch University with a focus in groundwater remediation. She has about 20 years of experience working in industry where her research spanned a number of topics including, reserve determination, classification of groundwater resources, water quality assessments, monitoring network design, water quality monitoring, managed aquifer recharge research, characterization of aquifers, site assessment for groundwater remediation, implementation of groundwater remediation, the spatial distribution and concentrations of various chemical constituents of groundwater in the environment (including nitrate in Southern Africa, fluoride in South Africa, and pharmaceuticals in the Western Cape), and remediation of nitrate in groundwater. She has worked with PHREEQC as well as Aquachem database management software as data analysis tools and to simulate groundwater systems. Her passion lies in understanding chemical processes linked to water rock interactions in various geological settings, as well as the influence of anthropogenic activities on these natural systems. She manages a number of research projects related to these topics. Dr. Israel also serves as a reviewer for a number of peer reviewed journals, and as the chairperson of the groundwater division of South Africa’s Western Cape branch.