STRATEGIC RESEARCH FOCUS AREA
Water for people and the planet
Water is a critical global resource. We study a broad range of evolving water-related challenges to ensure the sustainability of water resources for humans and natural systems.
A deep commitment to water
Our research confronts rapidly evolving challenges to meet human needs, sustain ecological systems, and mitigate threats from natural hazards. The scope and scale of these issues require integrated approaches with cutting-edge data analytics, decision science, and management tools for complex infrastructure and institutions.
CSU’s water resources programs began in frontier days with the urgent need to irrigate productive farms and create livable communities with effective water management systems. Our legacy of world-class work in fluid mechanics, hydraulics, hydrology, water quality, and water resources planning and management enables us to build on the past while envisioning the future of water engineering and science.
Agricultural Water Management
- Understand crop evapotranspiration
- Develop soil-water deficit models
- Improve precision irrigation
- Innovate irrigation and natural hydrologic systems
- Monitor and mitigate distributed irrigated agriculture soil salinity
Environmental Fluid Mechanics
- Utilize computational fluid dynamics
- Provide flow visualization
- Research turbulence and mixing
Groundwater Engineering
- Monitor groundwater systems with remote sensing and machine learning
- Model interactions with surface water and human systems
- Address groundwater quantity and quality issues
- Develop novel models for sustainable groundwater management in a changing climate
Hydrologic Science
- Study fundamental processes related to the movement of water through the hydrologic cycle
- Understand how human systems and climate change affect water resources, floods, and droughts
- Leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence to better understand hydrologic resilience
Integrative Solutions for Water Problems
- Promote smart technological and social water systems
- Provide advanced data acquisition, analytics, and risk analysis
- Support institutional analysis to support integrative solutions
River Mechanics
- Monitor erosion, sedimentation, river mechanics, and stream restoration
- Study ecological and environmental flows
Urban Water Management
- Develop sustainability frameworks across sectors
- Innovate solutions for critical and aging infrastructure
- Increase resilience in the face of extreme events
- Manage stormwater
Water and International Development
- Develop and increase capacity
- Apply integrated engineering approaches
- Maximize sustainability and resiliency
- Incorporate engineering, public health, social institutions, and prosperity
Water Infrastructure
- Reinforce, remove, or replace existing dam structures
- Convey, divert, and control water via hydraulic structures
- Utilize hydromachinery and renewable power generation
Water Resources Planning and Management
- Simulate and optimize models informed by valid science
- Create forecast-based and science-based models
- Leverage comprehensive systems analysis and engineering
