Freshwater Initiative: Overview (1:21)

Water presents one of the greatest sustainability challenges of this century. The demands upon that rigidly fixed supply of life's most indispensable compound are expanding. At the same time, climate change threatens the viability of existing water systems. Rising health standards drive changes in the definitions of acceptably clean and safe water supplies. And mounting concerns for environmental sustainability and ecosystem management are generating urgent new claims on this already scarce resource.

The Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University has launched a Freshwater Initiative consisting of three interrelated "strategic collaborations" research programs to address this sustainability challenge. Two of the strategic collaborations - the Global Freshwater Initiative and the Program on Water, Health and Development - will address questions facing water managers around the world. The third strategic collaboration, Joint Program on Water in the West, will focus on solving water issues facing the western United States.

In this video, Jeffrey Koseff, Woods Institute co-director, presents an overview of the Freshwater Initiative.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• water
• freshwater
• American West
• Stanford University
• groundwater
• water recylcing
• sustainability
• Jeffrey Koseff