In this way children will contribute to community development and encourage adults to save water and keep their neighbourhood clean. Educational needs around water and megacities should perhaps be most acutely directed at the water managers themselves. It is our experience that too few have shown a full understanding of the resource economics of water management. Education, then, is not merely about teaching students in school about the importance of water. We may get more substantial returns on investment by using our tertiary institutions to train water managers, or to re-train existing water managers.
Cities are complex systems requiring special methods of prediction and management.
We have to turn to the expertise in our tertiary institutions to develop special methods of prediction and management. To provide for the long-term water requirements of citizens, ecological integrity of the catchment and sustainable economic development of the city need to be understood and decisions need to be based on the best available information. We need a realistic assessment of the ability to manage water in specific circumstances. We need boldness. We need an unflinching commitment to equity.