STRATEGIC RESEARCH FOCUS AREA
Water for people and the planet
We develop water resource technologies and systems to meet human needs in a globally sustainable environment by using engineering and scientific principles, systems thinking, smart technologies, and integrated design and management.
Our deep commitment to water
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.
Today, we confront 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.
Agricultural Water Management
- Understand crop evapotranspiration
- Develop soil-water deficit models
- Improve precision irrigation
- Innovate irrigation and natural hydrologic systems
Environmental Fluid Mechanics
- Computational fluid dynamics
- Flow visualization
- Turbulence and mixing
Groundwater Engineering
- Monitor groundwater system with remote sensing
- Model interactions with surface water and human systems
- Address groundwater and water quality issues
Hydrologic Systems
- Create novel sensors for monitoring water in the environment
- Monitor interactions with ecological and human systems
- Quantify climate change impacts and develop mitigation technologies
- Leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence
Integrative Solutions for Water Problems
- Smart technological and social water systems
- Advanced data acquisition, analytics, and risk analysis
- Institutional analysis to support integrative solutions
River Mechanics
- Erosion, sedimentation, river mechanics, and stream restoration
- Ecological and environmental flows
Water and International Development
- Develop and increase capacity
- Integrate engineering approaches
- Maximize sustainability and resiliency
- Incorporate engineering, public health, social institutions, and prosperity
Water Infrastructure
- Dam planning, analysis, security, and removal
- Water diversion, conveyance and control, and buried pipelines
- Hydromachinery
Water Resources Planning and Management
- Simulation and optimization models informed by valid science
- Forecast-based and science-based models
- Comprehensive systems analysis and engineering
Urban Water Management
- Sustainability framework across sectors
- Critical and aging infrastructure
- Resilience in the face of extreme events
- Stormwater management