San Diego State University Friday opened the One Water Laboratory, a modular building and outdoor space where students, faculty and community members will collaborate to address some of the region’s most pressing water challenges.<\/p>\n
The 480-square-foot building along the San Diego River at SDSU Mission Valley will have three central purposes: advancing research on innovative water systems and technologies; expanding education, public engagement and lifelong learning; and providing hands-on training in emerging technologies and fields, such as watershed science and hydrology.<\/p>\n
“San Diego knows firsthand that drought, water pollution and extreme weather are not abstract concerns,” said SDSU President Adela de la Torre. “At the One Water Lab, our faculty and students can move research beyond theory — testing ideas and technologies in the living watershed and turning knowledge into solutions that protect our water and strengthen our region.”<\/p>\n
According to the university, the OWL will build on established water research at SDSU across disciplines such as water quality and quantity, flooding and hydrology, remote sensing, wastewater treatment and resource recovery, microbiology, emerging contaminants and the effects of disturbances such as wildfire on watersheds.<\/p>\n
“One of the most exciting things about the One Water Lab is its potential to bring people together,” said Natalie Mladenov, director of the Water Innovation and Reuse Lab and civil, construction and environmental engineering professor at SDSU. “Our faculty are studying water from so many different perspectives. This facility creates opportunities for those areas of expertise to intersect in new ways.”<\/p>\n
The OWL is funded in part by $2.6 million in grant funding from the San Diego River Conservancy, an independent agency “established to preserve, restore and enhance the San Diego River Area.” The lab will include signage in honor of Deanna Spehn, who helped create the San Diego River Conservancy and championed its efforts to protect San Diego’s natural resources. Spehn died in 2022.<\/p>\n
“The plaque honoring Deanna Sphen recognizes her contributions and the spirit of partnership that has made the One Water Lab possible,” said Ben Clay, chair of the San Diego River Conservancy. “The San Diego River Conservancy and SDSU share a longstanding relationship grounded in a commitment to environmental stewardship. We are proud to build on that partnership through a facility that will serve students, researchers and the broader community for years to come.”<\/p>\n
The lab’s outdoor space includes bioretention basins located throughout the river park. According to the university, the basins were designed to actively capture and filter stormwater runoff from the surrounding landscape, cleaning it before it flows into the San Diego River and makes its way to the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n
“The One Water Lab is SDSU Mission Valley’s first dedicated research facility, but it represents only the beginning of what has long been planned for this site,” said Hala Madanat, SDSU vice president for research and innovation. “As the Innovation District continues to take shape, it will create new opportunities for research, education and collaboration that bring together our university, industry and community partners with real-world impact on our region and the world.”<\/p>\n
OWL’s mission is to recognize “surface water, stormwater and wastewater as essential, interconnected resources for mitigating water scarcity, strengthening climate resilience and sustaining critical ecosystems,” an SDSU statement read. The lab will also host educational opportunities for local K-12 schools, community members and regional partners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Diego State University Friday opened the One Water Laboratory, a modular building and outdoor space where students,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75,302],"class_list":["post-491193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-sdsu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}