A panel of experts in geophysics, human health, and environmental justice discussed the upward trend in nitrate levels in Central Valley groundwater, its link to dairy manure, and its subsequent health concerns. The California Water Resources Control Board recently released a draft of new dairy manure management regulations with the intent of better addressing rising nitrate levels. Scholars from the Stanford Climate & Energy Policy Program submitted comments on the draft. These comments referred to preliminary data from Stanford researchers exploring some of the health concerns linked to high nitrate consumption.

During this event hosted by the Climate & Energy Policy Program, a panel analyzed the history of dairy manure management in the Central Valley and shared research exploring the health implications of high nitrate consumption and the broader challenges associated with contaminated groundwater in parts of the Central Valley.

Watch the event recording

Panelists

Gina Hervey, Sustainable and Humane Food Systems Legal Fellow, Climate and Energy Policy Program

David Stevenson, Harold K. Faber Professor of Pediatrics and Professor, by courtesy, of Obstetrics and Gynecology and of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

Seth Alston, Staff Attorney at the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Jenny Suckale, Associate Professor of Geophysics and, Senior Fellow, by courtesy, at the Woods Institute for the Environment

This event was organized and sponsored by the Climate and Energy Policy Program at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. For more information, email: climateenergypolicy@stanford.edu.