Resources for Research

Tools for researchers, journalists, and others who are studying the issues of freshwater resources, climate change, environmental justice, and globalization. ___________________________________________________

Sustainability Standards Websites

The Pacific Institute and its collaborators, the Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development, the ISEAL Alliance, OneWorldStandards, and Real Reason, have launched Framing Sustainability Standards and Sustainability Standards 101– two new websites that use “framing” to demystify key concepts and issues related to sustainability standards. By talking about social and environmental standards in straightforward ways with engaging illustrations that define the issues, the new web tools help communicate to the layperson the unique role and value of sustainability standards systems in furthering sustainable development.

Read more.
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CEO Water Mandate Water Action Hub

The CEO Water Mandate Water Action Hub is an online site designed to help companies efficiently identify potential collaborators and engage with them in water-related collective action to improve water management in regions of critical strategic interest. The core of the Water Action Hub online tool is a data management system that facilitates match-making by allowing allows users to identify potential collective action opportunities via river basins, organizations, projects, and collaboration action areas. The Pacific Institute, as part of the Secretariat of the UN Global Compact CEO Water Mandate, helped develop the Water Action Hub and the Guide to Water-Related Collective Action to work hand-in-hand in helping businesses effectively develop a collective action engagement around water management.

Go to the Water Action Hub.
Download the Guide to Water-Related Collective Action. ___________________________________________________

Urban Water Demand to 2100 Model

Model Allows Users to Analyze Effects of Climate, Population, Prices, and Technology on Urban Water Demand in California through 2100

Climate change will have significant impacts in California not just on water supply, but also on water demand. The free Urban Water Demand to 2100 model from the Pacific Institute helps water managers to forecast urban water demand with four global climate change models and compare different possible futures to the year 2100 by altering greenhouse gas emissions, population projections, conservation and efficiency measures, and more. The research shows climate change will cause increased water use in California’s cities and suburbs, even as water supply is expected to diminish. We created a flexible modeling tool that allows users to run their own scenarios, comparing how a range of factors in a range of climate change scenarios is likely to affect future patterns of water use in their specific areas.

Download the model.
Download the report. ___________________________________________________

WESim - The Water-Energy Simulator

The Water–Energy Simulator (WESim) is an easy-to-use analytical tool that can be used to evaluate the energy and greenhouse gas implications of water management decisions. The Excel-based model allows the user to explore a range possible scenarios, such as increased demand for water resources, the development of alternative water and energy sources, and needed water treatment improvements resulting from emerging contaminants and stricter water-quality guidelines. WESim can be applied by individual water and energy utilities, groups of utilities, and policymakers and decision makers. Read more.

Download the WESim Model.
Download the WESim User Manual.
Download the WESim report, Implications of Future Water Supply Sources for Energy Demands.
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The CE2 Model: Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Urban Water Conservation and Efficiency Measures

The economics of water conservation and efficiency are key issues. The Pacific Institute has developed the Cost Effectiveness of Water Conservation and Efficiency (CE2) Model to help evaluate the economic desirability of water conservation and efficiency measures and explore how costs and benefits can be shared among customers, water utilities, and other entities. The model helps document the costs of starting and running a conservation program and estimate the associated water, energy, and financial savings. It is sufficiently general and flexible to address variations in conservation measures regionally and according to the level of analysis because the model outputs are based on conditions defined by the user. The model quickly and easily calculates financial metrics that are meaningful and readily understood by planners and managers, and its primary users are water utility staff.

Read more. Download the CE2 Model. Download the CE2 User Manual.
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The CEO Water Mandate Website

The CEO Water Mandate website features a new capacity-building platform developed in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) that describes the many functions of corporate water assessment, identifies useful assessment tools, and evaluates the degree to which those tools are fit for purpose.

The website is designed to make a clear business case for corporate action on water and provides access to an array of resources relevant to companies seeking to better understand how they can improve their water performance and reduce water-related business risks. It also serves as a robust source of information to help companies and their stakeholders learn more about corporate water stewardship and the Mandate’s position within that emerging space. Check out the new website at www.ceowatermandate.org.

WECalc - Your Home Water-Energy-Climate Calculator

You can save water at home -- and save energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and save money in the process. WECalc, the Pacific Institute's Water-Energy-Climate Calculator, asks you a series of questions about your home water use habits, and based on your replies, estimates your water use and provides personalized recommendations for reducing it. WECalc also estimates your water-related energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions and shows you how much you can save -- and how to do it. Check out WECalc at www.wecalc.org.

Water and Conflict Bibliography

To aid those studying the role of water in conflict, the Pacific Institute has launched an online, searchable bibliography on water and conflict. The Water and Conflict Bibliography (new window) was funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York with additional support from the New Land Foundation and the general fund of the Pacific Institute. Oregon State University's Transboundary Freshwater Dispute project also contributed to the project.

Water and Conflict Chronology

In an ongoing effort to understand the connections between water resources, water systems, and international security and conflict, the Pacific Institute initiated a project in the late 1980s to track and categorize events related to water and conflict. A list of water-related conflicts in the myths, legends, and history of the ancient Middle East was published in Environment magazine (Gleick 1994) and this has formed the basis for our Water and Conflict Chronology (hosted at worldwater.org).

Read the Water and Conflict Chronology in Spanish (2008 version).
Cronología de los Conflictos del Agua en Español (versión actualizada en 2008).

Water to Air Models

To give water managers a better understanding of the relationship between water management decisions, energy consumption, and air quality the Pacific Institute has created two Water to Air Models. The models are available for download without charge from the Water to Air Model page.

International NGO Network on ISO

The International NGO Network on ISO (INNI) is a project of the Pacific Institute's Globalization program and has its own website. The INNI website provides timely information on the activities of ISO to network organizations so that they can activate their members, provide guidance to decision-makers, and shape public opinion.

Water and Climate Bibliography

The Water and Climate Bibliography is a searchable, online database containing over 3,000 references to books, articles, and other scholarly works.

WorldWater.org and The World's Water series

Worldwater.org is the companion website to the Pacific Institute's biennial book series, The World's Water. Worldwater.org provides extensive data and selected chapters from the books, as well as links to other water-related sites. In the sixth edition of The World's Water, the increasingly important issues of our use and misuse of the world’s freshwater resources are explored.

Circle of Blue

A project of the Pacific Institute, Circle of Blue is an international network of journalists, scholars and citizens that connects humanity to the global freshwater crisis. It provides original reporting, dynamic data spaces and engaging social media on the defining challenge of our time: our diminishing supply of fresh, clean water.

WaterNews

WaterNews is a daily extension of Circle of Blue’s long-form journalistic and scientific coverage of the global freshwater crisis and its solutions. From breaking headlines and the latest research to emerging trends and success stories and challenges, WaterNews is a great resource for comprehensive, engaging freshwater coverage.