The Institute for Water Research (IWR) is a multi-disciplinary research group that incorporates the Centre for Environmental Water Quality (CEWQ) and the ARUA Water Centre of Excellence (ARUA CoE). The Institute contributes to the understanding and sustainable management of water resources in southern Africa through both fundamental and applied research on the structure, function and processes of natural water systems. Research findings are actively disseminated, and consulting services apply scientific advances to address specific water-related challenges.

Research themes within the IWR and the CEWQ

The Institute has expertise across the broad field of water resource science, including hydrology, integrated water resource management, freshwater ecology, water quality and toxicology, biomonitoring, water services management and community education.

The IWR's five research themes are:

• Tackling watershed pollution and biodiversity loss,
• Improving water services for equitable and socially just outcomes,
• Improving catchment resilient to risks and hazards,
• Water for food, public health and the environment, and 
• Data, tools and models for better decision making

These five themes reflect the Institute’s integrated approach to water resource science. Together they address the ecological, social, technical and governance dimensions of water, linking fundamental research with applied solutions to support sustainable and equitable water management.

The combination of research and practical problem-solving within the IWR enables newly developed methods to be rapidly applied to water resource planning and management. In ecology, the Institute has focused on understanding aquatic ecosystem processes and the effects of flow variability. Much of this work contributes to determining environmental water quantity and quality requirements for rivers — a key component of the ‘Reserve’ determination process under the National Water Act (1998), which supports the sustainable use of South Africa’s water resources.

Teaching, postgraduate study, and collaboration

The IWR contributes to teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as offering professional training courses and other capacity building initiatives. Specifically, postgraduate students can register in the IWR for MSc and PhD degrees (by thesis) in both Hydrology and Water Resource Science. Staff members of the IWR serve on various research, management and policy making committees both within South Africa and overseas.

The staff of the IWR actively collaborate with other departments and institutes at Rhodes University including the departments of Geography, Zoology and Entomology, Environmental Science, Ichthyology and Fisheries Science, Environmental Learning Research Centre, The South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity and the Albany Museum. The Institute also cooperates with other universities, state departments and private consulting companies, both in South Africa and internationally.

Last Modified: Wed, 18 Feb 2026 16:14:46 SAST