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

California drought: Why doesn't California build big dams any more?

Woods Senior Fellow David Freyberg comments on the history and prospect of building dams in California to increase water storage.
August 31, 2014 - By  Paul Rogers, San Jose Mercury News

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Get Used to Toilet-to-Tap Water, Californians Told

Mentions and links to new report on groundwater issues and possible solutions by Water in the West
August 7, 2014 - By Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian

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How Conservation and Groundwater Management Can Gird California for a Drier Era

Dot Earth Columnist Andrew Revkin cites Water in the West's "invaluable package of analysis, graphics and recommendations on groundwater management"...
August 1, 2014 - By Andrew Revkin, The New York Times

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California's Biggest Water Source Shrouded in Secrecy

Describes new website created by Water in the West with in-depth information about California's groundwater crisis, and quotes Water in the West...
July 31, 2014 - By Lauren Sommer, KQED

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