Center for Social Innovation

California is home to iconic business, entertainment, and agricultural centers whose success depends on the cheap provision of scarce water. This trip explores the global issues of water management, policy, and innovation through the local lens of the Golden State, focusing on the role of the private sector.

Trip highlights

• Meetings with San Francisco Bay Area investors in the water sector and companies working on cutting edge water technologies
• Tour of San Joaquin River Delta and regional infrastructure projects, plus historic Big Creek Dam in the Sierra Nevada Mountains
• Interaction with Sacramento policymakers who manage the state's water allocation, and Central Valley farmers and residents facing a shortage of safe drinking water supplies
• Visit with Los Angeles seawater desalination entrepreneurs and a tour of Orange County's state of the art $500 million groundwater recharge facility.

Faculty Advisor

Sarah Soule, Professor of Organizational Behavior
Research focus: The study of state and organization-level policy change and diffusion, and the role social movements have on these processes