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.
September 27, 2013 | Water in the West | Insights
Imagine that you are taking a long hot shower. While washing, you look out the window, where you see a woman, facing you, with a pile of coal. She is slowly and dejectedly eating from this coal pile, one black nugget at a time. Occasionally, she gags. Your stomach churns. Welcome to “immersive virtual reality.”
This woman is your avatar in a virtual reality simulation...
September 19, 2013 | Water in the West | Insights
When John Wesley Powell descended the Colorado River for the first time, he and his party were frequently confronted with blind turns and unknown consequences around each bend in the river. They had no maps to guide them and their equipment was only marginally suited to the task at hand. As the saying goes, “the more things change, the more they remain the same.” ...
August 15, 2013 | Water in the West | Insights
A stream flowing through high-altitude grasslands in Ecuador. TNC is working through water funds to finance watershed protection in this area.
Photo: Bridget Besaw
Mark Tercek, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), spoke at the Commonwealth Club of Silicon Valley last Tuesday on how business and society can thrive by investing in nature. A tall and wiry former Goldman...
August 14, 2013 | Water in the West | Insights
Numbers matter. When you interview for a job, you are routinely advised to quantify your achievements - for example, talk about how you brought in a 50% increase in sales or negotiated a $2 million deal for your company.
“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.” - Dr. Seuss
However, as you learned...
July 09, 2013 | Water in the West | Insights
Professor Jacqueline Peel, Visiting Scholar, Stanford Water in the West
The 2013 Silicon Valley Energy Summit was hosted by the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center on June 28, 2013. The Summit Agenda promised a high-powered line-up of federal and state agency officials, business people, investors and practitioners talking about developments in the energy policy field. The timing of the...
June 12, 2013 | Water in the West | Insights
Last week the Huffington Post published an article entitled, “Margaret Kreusser, California Woman, Hit With $16,000 Water Bill,” that reported on how a woman from Escondido, CA was charged for the alleged use of more than 2.5 million gallons of water in one month. Just to put that number in context, the average American family of four uses 12,000 gallons per month; the value...
March 18, 2013 | Water in the West | Insights
Don’t feel bad if you didn't know last week (March 10 – 16) was National Groundwater Awareness week. If you did, you can count yourself part of a small minority of individuals who know or care about groundwater! Despite the fact that groundwater provides approximately 44% of the public water supply in the United States, very few Americans know anything about this precious...
March 07, 2013 | Water in the West | Insights
Welcome to our new website for Water in the West at Stanford University! The site is the result of a partnership between the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and the Bill Lane Center for the American West. Please look around this site to learn more about how we are engaging in research and dialogues to help achieve a future of sustainable water management for...
February 14, 2013 | Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment | News
Researchers encourage bacteria to produce nitrous oxide and methane in sewage sludge. The gases can then be cleanly burned to produce energy to run the plant.
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