Current Field Study Projects With Water UCI
The IDEAL Project (Remote). Inclusive, Diverse, Equitable, and Able Leaders for Water is one of our main projects that has been of interest to several field study students over the past few quarters. Water UCI held a workshop for IDEAL last Spring and has since then been developing a report based on the conclusions of the workshop. A stakeholder survey is also underway as part of the project.
Solar Canals Project (Remote). This is an opportunity to work on a project regarding environmental justice and the water-energy nexus in central California.
National Academies Sciences Engineering Medicine (NASEM) (Remote). PEER2PEER International Convergence Research Networks in Transboundary Water Security. “This project brings together global networks focusing on transboundary water management.” Linked in the associated button is the NASEM website which goes more in depth on the project goals. Water UCI is involved in NASEM’s mission!
Water UCI Guest Lecture Program (In-person requirement). Through this project, you would be able to provide a few lectures to a class of high school students material regarding environmental science and policy, climate science, or water science. This project is integral to Water UCI’s aim to increase education and communication for younger audiences that may be unaware of career paths or opportunities in the Water or Environmental Sector. You would coordinate with the class teacher and agree on a topic you are passionate about, then provide interactive lectures for the students. If you are interested in this project concept, more details are provided during the interview.
If you are interested in making your high school a participant, please contact Kayla Villon at villonk@uci.edu for details!
Public Outreach (Remote). Water UCI is involved in media outlets like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to publicize water-related news/events, but also to communicate developments within Water UCI! We feature items such as the Speaking of Water Colloquium series which invites water researchers and professionals to present their work via webinars and give spotlight posts to our field study students. If you are interested in helping Water UCI plan events like career fairs, webinars, and more, then you should consider this for your field study project!
Water UCI High School Mentoring Program (Remote). This is an optional project add-on! In the event that Water UCI is hosting high school interns, you have the opportunity to accept mentoring a student that will work alongside you and your group on your field study project. We expect you to meet virtually at least once a week for the length of the high school student’s internship period. You will be able to share your knowledge and provide guidance to your mentee as they gain their first experience in being part of a genuine research team!
Other projects may be available, but must be discussed over a meeting. If you are interested in doing your field study with Water UCI please reach out to our Director Dr. Feldman with your resume and cover letter!
Our very own Dr. Feldman, Director of Water UCI and Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy in the School of Social Ecology has announced his retirement after 17.5 years at UCI! Congratulations Dr. Feldman!
Dr. Feldman is planning to continue his work as Director of Water UCI. We are excited for what lies ahead and hope you are too!
To those to who have been given much in the way of opportunity and benefit, much is demanded as a means of giving back to their community. My hope is that Water UCI will continue to give back to ours.
Dr. David Feldman
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Water UCI’s Annual Report 2023-2024!
The Rachio Project Report is out!
The full documents are available for viewing on our Research page, or simply click the button below
PFAS Final Project Report
NEWS | IDEAL Project
Water UCI has received a $1 million grant from the University of California Office of the President through the Budget Act of 2023 for a new initiative — the Inclusive, Diverse, Equitable and Able Leaders (IDEAL) for Water Program. Inclusion, smart planning and public acceptance of innovative reclamation and conservation projects are essential for California to create a critically necessary “new paradigm in water management” to meet current and future needs, said Water UCI Director, Dave Feldman at a 2023 Water Policy Forum on campus in announcing the grant.
The 2023 Water Policy Forum also included Min presenting a symbolic check of $1 million to UC Irvine for IDEAL School of Social Ecology Dean Jon Gould and Feldman accepted the check from Min, who had championed the IDEAL grant from the University of California Office of the President through the Budget Act of 2023. “UC Irvine and the School of Social Ecology are dedicated to not only studying social problems but also helping to solve them,” Gould said.”
A number of activities are being planned during 2024 in support of IDEAL, in clouding a stakeholder workshop in May — stay tuned for more!
Recent Events & Videos
Project Overview: Our goal is to develop a framework of best practices for mitigating water pollutants that pose serious risks to human health and environmental quality in China, other developing economies, and the U.S by drawing on comparable experiences and lessons. Initial framework development via one year of funding will focus on the problem of managing disinfection byproducts. We will expand the framework – if funded over two additional years – by codifying best practices for managing regional collaboration and water transfers to ensure water quality and secure water supply. The initial problem we will examine is regulation of disinfection byproducts. These chemicals are present in U.S. and Chinese drinking water supplies and are carcinogenic at low concentrations. They are produced during the water treatment process via reactions between disinfectants and anthropogenic pollutants derived from industry, agriculture, and consumer products. This is a ubiquitous, difficult to manage issue that requires changes in how we manage rural landscapes, cities and the regulatory process itself. Our proposed solution, a handbook of best practices, will be developed through examining lessons from adaptive water governance: practices that emerge when rules, regulations, and laws are developed through broad stakeholder participation and cooperation between governments and formal non-governmental entities. We will glean these lessons through extensive literature reviews, stakeholder interviews, and workshops comprised of carefully-vetted case study participants in China and the U.S.
A Message From the Director
Freshwater is our planet’s most precious and vulnerable resource. While essential for life itself, challenges to its provision are too often overlooked. People across our planet, and here in California, face daily difficulty finding safe, clean, potable water. More than 40% of the world’s population lives in regions where clean water is increasingly scarce, while every day, nearly 1,000 children die from preventable water-borne and sanitation-related diseases. Freshwater is also a human security concern. Growing demands for food and energy, climate change-induced drought, and the fact that more than 260 river basins, home to over three billion people, are shared between two or more countries are all factors that lead to potentially worrisome conflicts. [Read More]
Our Mission Statement
Water UCI mobilizes seamless collaboration across the university to conduct research, provide educational and outreach programs, foster workforce development, and advance policy solutions to critical water problems facing the state, nation, and world.
Water UCI, located in the School of Social Ecology, serves to connect the water industry, government agencies, non-governmental organizations and K-12 schools with the vast resources of UCI and the UC system to implement solutions and keep the public informed.
Discover Water UCI
Water UCI is an interdisciplinary center in the School of Social Ecology that facilitates seamless collaboration across schools, departments, and existing research centers around questions of fundamental and applied water science, technology, management, and policy.
Watch this video to find out how UCI is making a difference.