Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment

Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment

Media Coverage: Freshwater

Calif. Scrambles to Count Every Drop of Water »

December 9, 2015

Woods Co-Director and Senior Fellow Buzz Thompson discusses the possibility of bringing all water rights holders under the authority of the water board.

By Jeremy P. Jacobs, E&E News

Scientists Find Source of Southeast Asian Arsenic »

December 4, 2015

Discusses research led by Woods Senior Fellow Scott Fendorf (Earth System Science)

By Brooks Hays, United Press International

PPIC Report Finds Reforms Would Improve the Way California Allocates Water »

November 18, 2015

Discusses a new report co-authored by Woods Co-Director and Senior Fellow Buzz Thompson and Leon Szeptycki, Woods professor of the practice and executive director of the Water in the West program.

Sierra Sun Times

To Save Water, an Underground Movement to Bank El Niño's Rainfall »

November 9, 2015

Cites a brief by Water in the West researchers which found that the $2.7 billion in Prop 1 funding for water storage could provide six times more storage capacity if spent on groundwater recharge projects than on construction of new...

By Bettina Boxall, LA Times

Californians Take Drought Lessons From Down Under »

November 2, 2015

Quotes Rebecca Nelson, Non-resident Fellow, Comparative Groundwater Law and Policy Program at Water in the West, on how Australia handled an nine-year drought.

By Craig Miller, KQED

Stanford Project Maps Underground Water -- Aimed At Taking the Guesswork Out of Well Drilling »

October 30, 2015

Profiles research by Senior Fellow, by courtesy, Rosemary Knight on her work mapping underground water in California's Central Valley.

By Lisa M. Krieger, San Jose Mercury News

Race to Abate Arundo in Salinas River is Slow-Paced »

October 23, 2015

Leon Szeptycki, Woods professor of the practice and executive director of the Water in the West program, discusses the concept of privately owning part of a river.

By Natalie Jacewicz, The Californian

Is Freshwater Supply More Dependent on Good Governance Than Geography? »

October 23, 2015

Discusses findings of study co-authored by Woods Senior Fellows Steven Gorelick (Earth System Science), Barton Thompson (Law) and Scott Fendorf (Earth System Science)

Phys.org

VIDEO: Fresno, California, Aims to Recharge its Dwindling Groundwater »

October 9, 2015

Tara Moran, Program Lead of Sustainable Groundwater at Water in the West, discusses the repercussions of drought on groundwater in Fresno, California.

By Zoe Meyers, High Country News

China's Sponge Cities: Soaking Up Water to Reduce Flood Risks »

October 1, 2015

Senior Fellow Dick Luthy (engineering) states that "sponge cities" are a new way of thinking about stormwater, not as a problem but as an opportunity and a resource to augment our water supply.

By Mark Harris, The Guardian

Drought survival: What Australia’s Changes Can Teach California »

September 25, 2015

Rebecca Nelson, a non-resident fellow at Water in the West, states that the sweeping changes needed to help Australia survive their 13-year drought were accepted because there was an understanding that it was for the public interest.

By Kevin Fagan, SF Chronicle

Here Comes the Sea: The Struggle to Keep the Ocean out of California’s Coastal Aquifers »

September 23, 2015

Profiles research by Senior Fellow, by courtesy, Rosemary Knight on saltwater intrusion into underground freshwater aquifers.

By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue

A Wet Winter Won’t Save California »

September 21, 2015

Op-ed by Senior Fellows Chris Field (Biology, Earth System Science) and Noah Diffenbaugh (Earth System Science) calling for the incorporation of climate-related risks in planning for California’s future.

By Noah Diffenbaugh and Christopher Field, New York Times

Study Finds Snowpack in California’s Sierra Nevada to Be Lowest in 500 Years »

September 14, 2015

Senior Woods Fellow Noah Diffenbaugh states that the new findings contribute to the evidence that global warming has substantially increased the probability of extremely low snow conditions.

By Nicholas St. Fleur, New York Times

Less Water Might Be Plenty for California, Experts Say, and Conservation is Only the Start »

September 6, 2015

Quotes Newsha Ajami, director of urban water policy at Water in the West, on the substantial "soft paths"  California can take to save water while reducing environmental impacts and saving money.

By Peter H. King, Los Angeles Times

Water Management’s High-Tech Future »

September 3, 2015

Interview with Newsha Ajami, director of urban water policy at Water in the West, about some of the advances she’s seeing around the state, and what a "next-gen water system” might look like.

By Lori Pottinger, Public Policy Institute of California Blog

Signs of a Historic El Niño, but Forecasters Remain Wary »

August 13, 2015

Stanford doctoral student Daniel Swain (Environmental Earth System Science), a 2013 Rising Environmental Leadership Program fellow, states that while El Niño has potential to bring a lot of water to California, it doesn't necessarily...

By John Schwartz, New York Times

Concrete Oasis: Why Las Vegas Has Coped Well With Drought So Far »

August 8, 2015

Woods Co-Director and Senior Fellow Buzz Thompson states that Nevada has such a low allocation of the Colorado river because no one expected the city to be what it is today. 

The Economist

A Once-Flourishing Pima Cotton Industry Withers in an Arid California »

August 7, 2015

Quotes Tara Moran, Program Lead of Sustainable Groundwater at Water in the West, about how the San Joaquin Valley’s two groundwater basins are probably the most over-drafted in the state.

By Hiroko Tabuchi, New York Times

Shallow Fracking Wells May Threaten Aquifers »

August 6, 2015

Covers study led by Senior Fellow Robert Jackson (Environmental Earth System Science) which found that several thousand near-surface hydraulic fracturing operations for oil and natural gas production in the U.S. pose a potentially...

By Jeff Johnson, Scientific American via Chemical & Engineering News