Events Calendar

USC Water Institute Seminar

Speaker: Stephen Monismith , Chair, Dept of Civil and Env Eng, Stanford University

Talk Title: : (Not quite) Everything you wanted to know about freshwater flows into the San Francisco Bay/Delta - But were afraid to ask

Abstract: I will discuss an overview of one of the central and most contentious issues facing California's management of water resources: the ecological effects of freshwater flows through the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta into San Francisco Bay and their diversion for human use. In particular, I will focus on selected aspects of the role hydrodynamic processes may play in determining how we manage the system with the aim of achieving the desired "co-equal goals" of ecosystem restoration and water supply reliability. Central to this discussion are the alternative views that argue that the fundamental problem is one of plumbing or that it is the volume of water diverted and the timing of those diversions that matters.


Biography: Stephen Monismith's research in environmental and geophysical fluid dynamics involves the application of fluid mechanics principles to the analysis of flow processes operating in rivers, lakes, estuaries and the oceans. Making use of laboratory experimentation, numerical modelling, and field measurements, his current research includes studies of estuarine hydrodynamics and mixing processes, flows over coral reefs, wind wave-turbulent flow interactions in the upper ocean, turbulence in density stratified fluids, and physical-biological interactions in phytoplankton and benthic systems. Because his interest in estuarine processes is intertwined with an interest in California water policy issues, he has been involved with efforts at developing management strategies for improving the "health" of the Bay through regulation of freshwater flow into the Bay. Professor Monismith is currently director of the Environmental Fluid Mechanics Laboratory. He was a resident fellow in Robinson House (Stanford's environment theme house) 2000-2002. He is a 1989 recipient of the Presidential Young Investigator award. Prior to coming to Stanford, he spent three years in Perth (Australia) as a research fellow at the University of Western Australia.


Host: Prof. Gaurav Sukhatme

Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Kanak Agrawal