Sustainable Water Sourcing
Water is not equally distributed in the world in both place and time. Prime farming regions are often in most water stressed areas. Seasons of low precipitation and high temperatures, when irrigation water is needed, are misaligned from the seasons of high precipitation, when water is available. Current systems to meet this timing mismatch often lead to overexploitation of groundwater and other limited water resources. All these problems are amplified by climate change. Extreme precipitation events increase in magnitude and frequency. Long periods of drought punctuate these large magnitude events. Without regulation and shifting of the supply to times of need, there simply is not enough annual water supply. Existing systems and infrastructure are not designed for these extremes and wild swings – they don’t have the ability to bridge the gap between brief surplus and extended deficit. The Water and Data Sciences Team first identifies opportunities and risks around water, climate and land; and second, investigates, negotiates, designs, constructs and operates sustainable water supply systems.
