Thrust 1: Environmental Functioning within the Hydrological Cycle

All environmental components and processes within the hydrological cycle depend on and are regulated by the structural, functional and compositional aspects of biodiversity. Environmental components and processes also respond to and impact on society’s decisions and actions. Historically, research has been narrowly focused on separate environmental components within the hydrological cycle rather than the processes and relationships between them. This thrust focuses on understanding these relationships within the hydrological cycle, their role in maintaining flows of water-related goods and services to society, and their vulnerability to change in the broader environment.

Thrust 2: Environmental Governance Systems

Internationally, good governance is based on principles such as inclusivity, representivity, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness, as well as social equity and justice. In turn, good environmental governance should reflect our best understanding of the structure, functions, processes and variability that typify natural systems. Although there has been considerable development within the field of public, corporate and natural resource governance, little attention has been paid to the development of good environmental governance systems. This thrust focuses on water-related governance within society and the design of systems that better anticipate, reflect and respond to changes in environmental components and processes within the hydrologi-cal cycle.

Thrust 3: Integrative Knowledge for Ecosystem-based Water Resource Management

This thrust focuses on the generation, application and communication of higher-level knowledge and understanding of ecosystem approaches to water resource management and water use. The higher-level knowledge targeted should recognise and account for natural processes and human-induced impacts that affect water resources. This is achieved through research and workshops which stimulate the generation of new insights and information, through:
· Synthesising outputs from relevant programmes and projects within the WRC’s research portfolio;
· Combining these with the findings of other relevant national and international research initiatives; and
· Influencing and initiating appropriate new research and other initiatives to address environmental issues that cut across various water-related subject areas.

Thrust 4: Environmental Degradation and Mitigation

This thrust will seek to maintain and enhance the benefits of water to the environment, mitigate environmental degradation and reverse the damage caused to the natural and the developed environment by water through anthropogenic activities.  Water in its different characteristics which can be detrimental to the environment will go through retrospective and prospective research to develop practical solutions for addressing environmental degradation. These practical solutions for mitigating and addressing environmental degradation will be applied in a way that enhances social, economic and ecological benefits. This thrust will tend to align the research in this Impact Area to more evident solutions that are expected to touch the lives of those people who are exposed to degraded environments. The thrust will package, expose and enhance the applied research dimension to the mostly fundamental research in the different KSAs. The research in this area will also target the promotion of clean water environments through community-based research.