HARC's Land, Water, People Program emphasizes the interactions between ecological, hydrological and social processes, particularly as they relate to biodiversity, water quality and quantity, ecosystem informatics, economics, policy, and social and institutional analysis. The goal of the Program is to link ecosystems and water resources to sustainable development through improved understanding of the interactions between humans and these resources and to facilitate regulatory, institutional and technological change and improved decision making. Our approach is interdisciplinary, integrating ecological, physical and social sciences with information technology.

HARC compiles and manages numerous databases describing environmental quality, biological and water resources, and aquatic and terrestrial habitats in its region. Information technology tools and geographic information systems allow HARC to translate the data into information through the development of environmental indicators, statistical results, spatial and temporal analysis and to analyze changes in ecosystem and water resources.

Non-market valuation techniques are used to provide economic representation of the ecosystem, and help decision-makers achieve more effective stewardship.

Using a variety of qualitative and quantitative social science methods, HARC examines the social values people attach to natural resources and what they consider to be appropriate resource management approaches.