Global Freshwater Initiative
The Global Freshwater Initiative develops strategies to promote the long-term viability of freshwater supplies for people and ecosystems threatened by climate change, shifts in land use, increasing population, regional conflicts and decaying infrastructure.
Multiple drivers of global changes in human and natural systems are threatening freshwater resources in the 21st century. An overarching challenge is to create water systems that can sustain human well-being and natural ecosystems in the presence of rapid environmental and socio-economic change. It is essential to balance provision of water for direct human use and water to preserve natural ecosystems.
To deal with impending global water crises, different regions need locally relevant freshwater solutions focused on incentives, technology, conservation, markets and trade. Stanford researchers and local collaborators are working to generate policy evaluation models, provide targeted analyses of viable policy interventions and train the next generation of water resource experts.
Featured Projects
Sustaining the Upper Colorado River
GFI & WitW | North America | Completed
Food-Water-Energy for Urban Sustainable Environments
GFI | Middle East, Asia | Active
Jordan Water Project
GFI | Middle East | CompletedWhere We Work
Featured News
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New research shows flood-related damage to rice crops has surged in recent decades. Wider adoption of flood-resistant varieties could help curb future losses.
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A new water market model for the Colorado River basin could improve water security and restore ecosystems amid intensifying shortages.
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Prolonged and potentially destabilizing water shortages will become commonplace in Jordan by 2100, new research finds, unless the nation implements comprehensive reform, from fixing leaky pipes to desalinating seawater.
About Us
In many parts of the world, freshwater for people and the environment is a threatened resource. Rapid population growth, climate change and poor management, among other factors, have led to water crises that put people and their livelihoods in danger. Often interlinked, regional water supply shocks can affect people, economies, and nature everywhere. The Global Freshwater Initiative (GFI) works with scholars, water managers, public and private decision-makers and nongovernmental organizations to identify viable solutions to water challenges throughout the world. GFI bridges hydrologic science, ecology, geoscience, economics and institutional analysis to develop strategies that promote the long-term viability of freshwater supplies for people and ecosystems. Global in scope but regional in focus, GFI works to:
• Understand the nature and causes of water crises and their impacts on people, economies and ecosystems
• Identify planning and policy prescriptions that ensure regional freshwater supplies for human and environmental needs are sustainable and resistant to disruptions
• Develop innovative, quantitative models that inform improved policies to address regional water supply problems by exploring water markets, infrastructure, technology, taxes, water rights and quotas
• Train the next generation of water resource experts
Leadership
Featured Publications
- Womble, P., Gorelick, S., Thompson, B., & Hernandez-Suarez , J. . (2025). A strategic environmental water rights market for Colorado River reallocation. Nature Sustainability. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01585-x
- Müller, M., Yoon, J., Gorelick, S., & Tilmant, A. (2016, December 5). Impact of the Syrian refugee crisis on land use and transboundary freshwater resources. PNAS. https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1614342113
- Erban, L., & Gorelick, S. (2016). Closing the irrigation deficit in Cambodia: Implications for transboundary impacts on groundwater and Mekong River flow. Journal of Hydrology, 535, 85-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.01.072