Freshwater resources
Site news
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Historic rains filled Greater Los Angeles reservoirs and shallow aquifers nearly to capacity in 2023. But drought conditions persisted in deeper aquifers, according to a new analysis of seismic data from California’s earthquake monitoring network.
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Rainy days are becoming less frequent but more intense across much of the planet because of climate change. Even in years with similar rainfall totals, plants fare differently when rain falls in fewer, bigger bursts, a new study shows.
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A new study from Stanford researchers shows central California’s vast San Joaquin Valley has sunk at a record pace since 2006. Strategic recharging of aquifers could help slow or stop the sinking.
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Assistant Professor of chemical engineering and of civil and environmental engineering William Tarpeh brings his love of problem-solving to his research.
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As power grids rely more on renewable energy sources like wind and solar, balancing energy supply and demand becomes more challenging. A new analysis shows how water systems, such as desalination plants and wastewater treatment facilities, could help enhance grid stability and create new revenue streams.
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Soaring water utility bills force many households to ration water use for essential needs while still falling behind on payments. Stanford scientists offer a new approach to measuring water affordability that could help utilities and government agencies identify and aid those most at risk.
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Stanford researchers and others are assessing an innovative curriculum and infrastructure maintenance program that could provide a blueprint for more effective school-based sanitation and hygiene interventions.
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A new study maps how energy and food systems depend on stored water to generate hydropower and feed irrigation. Dams and reservoirs won’t be able to meet the demand in coming decades.
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Stanford economist Paul Milgrom won a Nobel Prize in part for his role in enabling today’s mobile world. Now he’s tackling a different 21st century challenge: water scarcity.
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The future of water in the Southwest was top of mind for participants and attendees at the 10th Annual Eccles Family Rural West Conference.
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Stanford water and climate experts discuss climate impacts on shared water sources and potential solutions.
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As policymakers consider updates to the Bay-Delta Plan, a Stanford analysis outlines challenges and strategies to support future water security in the San Francisco Bay Area in the face of climate change.
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Professor Barton “Buzz” Thompson discusses his most recent book where he proposes various strategies for solving the United States’ freshwater crisis and argues that government and water authorities can’t do it alone.
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A Stanford expert discusses how thinking on smaller scales about water treatment and reuse could help meet the challenges of water scarcity.
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An expert in the global cycles of carbon and water explains how they are inextricably bound to one another and fundamental to the future of life on planet Earth.
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A new analysis of one of the world’s largest residential electrification programs suggests switching from gas to electric stoves can reduce climate emissions and hospitalization rates faster than previously thought if the power grid is green.
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Stanford-led research reveals a massive and accelerating transfer of water from rural groundwater sources to Jordan’s cities through an unlicensed tanker water market. Recognizing this previously hidden demand for water could be critical for improving urban water security in water-stressed cities in Jordan and elsewhere.
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Switching from hydropower to fossil fuels during droughts has led to higher carbon emissions and cost 11 Western states tens of billions of dollars over the past two decades, Stanford research finds.
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An engineer explains why purifying “waste” water could be the answer to the world’s freshwater problems. (Source: Stanford Engineering's The Future of Everything podcast)
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Scientists have long suspected that the weight of snow and ice in nearby mountains could throw off groundwater assessments tied to elevation changes in California’s Central Valley, but they lacked a way to quantify the effect. A new study demonstrates a solution. (Source: Stanford News)
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The May 25 U.S. Supreme Court decision Sackett v EPA "dramatically shrinks the authority of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers to regulate wetlands," Stanford environmental law expert Deborah Sivas explains. (Source: Stanford Law School)
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Water and natural resources expert Buzz Thompson discusses a recent tentative deal to reduce water use by entities drawing from the Colorado River, averting near-term potential disaster and predictions that the river could all but stop. (Source: Stanford Law School)
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Giulio De Leo and his collaborators have been testing an unconventional solution to a parasitic disease. (Source: Stanford Magazine)
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A new tool for designing and managing irrigation for farms advances the implementation of smart agriculture, an approach that leverages data and modern technologies to boost crop yields while conserving natural resources. (Source: Stanford News)
