South Africa and the United States have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will see the two countries working together in Geological and Water Resources Research.

The agreement was signed today at a one-day Biennial Ground Water conference currently underway in Pretoria, which seeks to find better ways of reserving and protecting ground water.

The agreement is aimed at encouraging and facilitating the development of direct contact and cooperation between the two governments, universities, research centers, institutions, private sector companies and other entities.

The cooperation may be extended to other areas of mutual interest such as earth-science investigations including hazards, resources and the environment, biological investigations as well as geographic geospatial investigations and analysis.

The South African Government is committed to ensuring that the right to an adequate amount of clean water was progressively realized. Therefore the Government and private sector has a responsibility to ensure the efficient management of water since all water resources, including groundwater, reside in the custody of the state, and they are no longer the possession of the owner of the land on which they happen to be found.