Inequitable Climate: The Case of Clean Water

Despite efforts by local to international governments to recognize and ensure the human right to water, millions of Americans as well as people around the world still lack reliable access to safe and affordable drinking water. Driven by the changing climate, mega-droughts are exacerbating water scarcity challenges in some parts of the U.S. At the same time, unprecedented rainfall causes floods that overwhelm wastewater systems and contaminate drinking water in other regions. Recently enacted legislation provides historic levels of funding for new and enhanced water infrastructure projects to address these challenges, but under-resourced communities are less able to take advantage of those resources.

This event featured a panel of Stanford scholars and other experts examining the challenges and potential solutions to ensuring communities across the United States have access to clean water. Topics will include: water resource management practices, benefits of green infrastructure and nature-based solutions, and access and affordability with a particular focus on under-resourced communities - both urban and rural.  

This is the fourth in a series of events from the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment examining the relationship between climate change, extreme events, and how impacts are disproportionately felt by the most vulnerable.

Speakers

Chitra Kumar, Director, Office of Policy, Partnerships and Program Development, US Environmental Protection Agency

Joe Kane, Fellow, Metropolitan Policy Program, The Brookings Institution

Khalid Osman, Center Fellow, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment

Chris Field, Perry L. McCarty Director, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment; Lane Professor for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies