Newsha Ajami, Stanford University | Stanford Women in Data Science (WiDS) Conference 2020
summary
Argues that the century‑old top‑down water model fails because human decisions aren’t part of planning and shows concrete levers: uses data science and mathematical models to quantify that roughly 50% of urban water goes to outdoor uses, that grass uses four times more water than corn, and that repurposing landscaped water could supply 1–2 million Californians. Recommends bottom‑up demand management, local collaboration, groundwater banking, stormwater capture and reuse as cheaper alternatives to desalination.
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chapters (12)
- 0:00Introduction by host
- 0:23Newsha Ajami's role
- 1:08Changing water infrastructure model
- 2:32Outdoor water usage statistics
- 3:17Residential water use focus
- 4:41California's dry February impact
- 6:03Water storage and policy changes
- 6:48Desalination feasibility
- 7:32Sustainable water management
- 8:55Global water solutions
- 10:01Future of water management
- 10:43Advice for aspiring data scientists
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