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Stanford Earth Matters

Colorado River at California-Arizona border

Q&A: Colorado River deal and ongoing challenges

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)

Three researchers with prawns wade in river

Just add prawns

Giulio De Leo and his collaborators have been testing an unconventional solution to a parasitic disease. (Source: Stanford Magazine)

Drip irrigation and seedlings

When to water? Researchers develop new tool for optimizing irrigation

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)

hands with water

Q&A: Accelerating water solutions

Stanford water and sanitation expert Jenna Davis discusses surprising freshwater challenges and potential solutions in the U.S. and abroad. (Source: Stanford Program on Water, Health & Development)

Flooding water out of heavy rain clouds in the Californian region.

Whiplash weather: What we can learn from California’s deadly storms

Stanford and local experts discuss ways to mitigate risk to communities and infrastructure amid dramatic swings between flood and drought.

Mother helps daughter wash hands at a kitchen sink

Droughts increase costs for low-income households

According to a recent study, when providers act to curtail water use or invest in new infrastructure because of a drought, bills can rise for low-income households and drop for high-income households. (Source: Stanford News)

A glass of water on a railing with water infrastructure in background

The cleanest drinking water is recycled

New research shows treated wastewater can be more dependable and less toxic than common tap water sources including rivers and groundwater. (Source: Stanford Engineering)

Water stopped by beaver dam with mountains in background

Beavers will become a bigger boon to river water quality as U.S. West warms

American beaver populations are booming in the western United States as conditions grow hotter and drier. New research shows their prolific dam building benefits river water quality so much, it outweighs the damaging influence of climate-driven droughts.

Tree and grass that are green on left side, dry and brown on right side

Plant processes may be key to predicting drought development

Based on new analyses of satellite data, scientists have found that hydrologic conditions that increase flash drought risk occur more often than current models predict. The research also shows that incorporating how plants change soil structures can improve Earth system models.

Wastewater treatment plant

Alexandria Boehm: Wastewater helps reveal COVID’s real reach

Civil and environmental engineer Alexandria Boehm joins Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast to discuss how a new form of epidemiology is using the tools of engineering to test wastewater to track COVID-19’s true spread. (Source: Stanford Engineering)

Costa Rican naturalist and Stanford research collaborator Dunia Villalobos examines a river in Las Cruces, Costa Rica

Riverfront forest restoration can deliver outsized benefits

Analysis reveals how restoring relatively narrow forest buffers could substantially improve regional water quality and carbon storage in Costa Rica and elsewhere. Such changes could have outsized benefits for vulnerable populations that rely on rivers for their water supply. (Source: Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment)

Colorado River, Canyonlands National Park

As Colorado River wanes, water supplies and ecosystems hang in the balance

A study analyzes water transactions that leave water in the river, and shows how they could be scaled up to avert cuts for major water users while supporting imperiled ecosystems. (Source: Water in the West)

A beaver chews on vegetation in a beaver pond

Q&A: Harnessing the power of nature to address water and climate challenges

A Stanford water policy expert discusses how investments in nature could simultaneously help states bolster water supplies and achieve their climate goals. (Source: Stanford News)

raindrops over green field

An AI solution to climate models’ gravity wave problem

Stanford scientists are among a growing number of researchers harnessing artificial intelligence techniques to bring more realistic representations of ubiquitous atmospheric ripples into global climate models

Irrigation canal and wheat field

When will California's San Joaquin Valley stop sinking?

A Stanford University study simulates 65 years of land subsidence, or sinking, caused by groundwater depletion in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The results suggest significant sinking may continue for centuries after water levels stop declining but could slow within a few years if aquifers recover.

Tractor on a paddy field in Mekong Delta, Vietnam - External link

Saving the Mekong River Delta from drowning

Southeast Asia’s most productive agricultural region and home to 17 million people could be mostly underwater within a lifetime. Researchers recommend policy solutions including strict regulation of sediment mining, limits on groundwater pumping, and coordination among countries, development agencies and other private and civil society stakeholders. (Source: Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment)

Songdo, Korea (external link)

Building smarter

Analysis presents a first-of-its-kind framework to design the most efficient mix of urban buildings along with integrated systems to supply power and water services. The approach could significantly reduce costs and pollution compared to traditional systems. (Source: Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment)

Sierra Nevada range viewed from Mammoth Mountain summit

Snowpack changes how a California volcano 'breathes'

A Stanford University study suggests the weight of snow and ice atop the Sierra Nevada affects a California volcano’s carbon dioxide emissions, one of the main signs of volcanic unrest.

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