The development of the world's largest open-cast uranium mine in the Namib Desert introduced rapidly increasing demands for water to the area in the early 1970's. In the absence of scientifically based information on the likely impact of water extraction from the fragile desert ecosystem, various government departments and universities established a cooperative research project to investigate the problem. This report outlines the nature of the regional environment, the types of changes expected to occur in the area as a consequence of water extraction from the Kuiseb River, and provides details of features of the geomorphology, hydrology and ecology that might be used as baselines against which to measure changes within the system. Keywords: kuiseb environment, geological history, sand dynamics, vegetation, vegetation structure, water, vegetation types, forage availability.