Every other year, the Department for Agriculture and Natural Resources of the University of California and the California Institute for Water Resources invite 50 leading scientists and managers in the field of water use to the Rosenberg Forum. The forum originated in 1996 with an endowment gift from the Bank of America to the University of California. Since then, the overarching goal of the forum has been reducing conflict in the management of water resources. Two sub-objectives provide specificity and support in achieving this main objective. The first is to emphasize the role of science in the making of water policy and in the management of water resources. The second is to promote exchange and interaction between scientists and policy-makers.

For the 11th Rosenberg Forum, which took place between October 23rd and 27th at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, Professor Sauer was invited as a guest speaker. His presentations were entitled “Adoption of Improved Water Technology in Agriculture: Drivers and Barriers” and “Measuring the Resilience of Farms to Water Scarcity.”