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

New Tech Uses Microbes to Cut Water Waste From Beer

Mentions Woods Senior Fellow Craig Criddle and Stanford's plan to build a resource recovery center
February 13, 2014 - By Bill Lascher, The Guardian

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Viewpoints: Environmental Water Market Would Help the Losers in This Drought

Op-ed authors, including Stanford Woods Institute Co-Director Buzz Thompson, argue for special water market during drought
February 2, 2014 - By Jay Lund, Ellen Hanak and Barton “Buzz” Thompson, Sacramento Bee

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Drought a Fact of California Life; Planning Can Ease Impact

Opinion piece by Buzz Thompson, co-director of the Stanford Woods Institute, on California's experience with persistent dry spells
January 24, 2014 - By Barton "Buzz" Thompson, San Francisco Chronicle

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Explosion in Extreme Drought in California

Quotes Daniel Swain, a Stanford graduate student working with Woods Senior Fellow Noah Diffenbaugh
January 16, 2014 - By Jason Samenow, The Washington Post

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