The theme of the book is sharing and managing water resources in Southern Africa (i.e. the 12 SADC member countries). The introduction gives an overview of the contents of each chapter. Key issues like water as a natural resource, its availability (as influenced by climatic factors), water uses and related problems (water stress, population growth, urbanisation and others), water shared within a river basin and between countries are addressed in the various chapters. The last chapters is devoted to management of water resources: Management principles, levels of management, involvement of the private sector and NGO's, the role of Agenda 21 of the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development and the Helsinki Rules, and supply versus demand management. The text and the many coloured illustrations are supplemented by a useful glossary, bibliographical references and an index.