Freshwater

Finding answers to the world’s pressing water supply and access challenges requires crossing disciplines and exploring a wide range of approaches. Stanford researchers are working together on sustainable solutions ranging from a low-cost water pump chlorinator to a high-tech, multi-million-dollar wastewater resource recovery center. They also are looking at water supply issues from a law and public policy standpoint, providing guidance to decision-makers through knowledge-based tools such as an interactive website illustrating California’s major groundwater challenges and potential solutions. To advance these and other innovative freshwater solutions, Woods supports the Global Freshwater Initiative, which develops strategies to promote the long-term viability of freshwater supplies; the Water, Health & Development Program, which identifies ways to improve and increase the sustainability of water supply and sanitation service delivery; and the Water in the West Program, which addresses multiple dimensions of realistic, integrated solutions to the American West’s water challenges. Read on for examples of work Woods-affiliated researchers are doing to ensure adequate supply and access to safe water for billions of people.

In The News

Gov. Jerry Brown Touts Decades of Experience on Water Policy

Notes that Gov. Jerry Brown spoke at the "New Directions for U.S. Water Policy" forum, co-sponsored by the Stanford Woods Institute and The...
October 20, 2014 - By Melanie Mason, Los Angeles Times

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The Risks of Cheap Water

Quotes Woods Co-Director and Senior Fellow Buzz Thompson (Law) on the need for effective water markets, and mentions forum hosted by Woods and...
October 14, 2014 - By Eduardo Porter, The New York Times

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Electrical Currents Set up at Moss Landing Beach for Saltwater Intrusion Study

TV news story about field study by Senior Fellow, by courtesy, Rosemary Knight on saltwater intrusion into underground freshwater aquifers
October 9, 2014 - By Phil Gomez, KSBW

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The Fingerprint of Climate Change on the California Drought, Extreme Weather in 2013

Discusses research co-authored by Senior Fellow Noah Diffenbaugh and graduate student Daniel Swain on climate change and drought
September 29, 2014 - By Angela Fritz, Washington Post

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