Get insights and analysis from Water in the West researchers as well as the latest news about new Stanford water research and events focusing on western water issues.
January 14, 2016 | Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment | News
A new computer model developed by a Stanford scientist can be used by resource managers around the world to weigh food and energy tradeoffs when water is scarce.
December 09, 2015 | Water in the West | Insights
Next week the California Water Commission will begin the formal rulemaking process on how funds from Proposition 1 (the $7.5 billion water bond approved by voters last fall) will be allocated for water storage projects in California. Proposition 1 provides $2.7 billion for infrastructure projects with water storage components through the Water Storage Investment Program (WSIP). Although there are...
December 07, 2015 | Water in the West | Insights
Water in the West has launched a new series of four workshops focusing on the data and models needed to implement California’s new and historic groundwater management law.
Passed in 2014, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires the formation of “Groundwater Sustainability Agencies” (GSAs) to coordinate the activities of the state’s fragmented local...
December 02, 2015 | Water in the West | Insights
Scholars from the United States and Mexico gathered at Stanford this fall to discuss the intersections of climate change, water management and energy policy at the border of those two countries.
Collaborative initiatives addressing the water-energy nexus are needed to more effectively manage those critical resources as the global climate changes, said Newsha Ajami, who organized the Oct. 1-2...
December 01, 2015 | Water in the West | Insights
In December, Stanford Woods Institute Co-Director and Senior Fellow Buzz Thompson went to Washington, DC to speak to policymakers about water management and the California drought.
On December 1st, Thompson spoke at the Congress On Sustaining Western Water where water experts from across the nation assessed the challenges of managing scarce water resources within the economic and...
September 29, 2015 | Water in the West | Insights
A new report from Water in the West explores how Western states can increase water rights transfers to maintain healthy flows for ecosystems while benefiting water rights holders.
“Environmental Water Rights Transfers: A Review of State Laws” is the product of a Stanford Law School practicum that Water in the West Executive Director Leon Szeptycki taught in partnership with the...
September 23, 2015 | Water in the West | Insights
By Jacqueline Peel, Visiting Scholar, Water in the West
Natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods and wildfires are often thought of as “Acts of God.” However, the disaster management community increasingly recognizes that few disasters are purely “natural” in origin. For instance, land-use decisions that allow people to build (and rebuild) homes in floodplains contribute to flood damage; and...
September 17, 2015 | Water in the West | Insights
One year ago, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014 into law. Commonly referred to as SGMA, the legislation created a statewide framework for sustainable groundwater management – and, potentially, regulation of groundwater pumping – for the first time in California’s history. The law does so by imposing a mandate for sustainable groundwater...
August 21, 2015 | Water in the West | Insights
After three years of severe drought, the California legislature passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014, which creates a statewide framework for groundwater regulation. This legislation came into effect on January 1, 2015, and presents local water agencies with significant opportunities and challenges. Those challenges and potential solutions were the topic of a 2015 Uncommon...
August 21, 2015 | Water in the West | Insights
Surface water managers are increasingly turning to “enhanced decision support tools," models that are specifically designed to resolve disputes and help reach consensus based decisions. But similar technologies have only recently come into play for making effective groundwater decisions. A new grant will fund a study of the role that data and models play in...
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