Louis Lab Receives Grant to Study Water Sustainability in Dairy
Colton Adams, Research Economist | Davis, CA – April 17, 2026
We are honored to inform you that the Louis Lab has been awarded $7,500 in funding through the 2025–26 Grants for Advancing Sustainable Development Goals to support a new international research initiative titled Water Stress, Water Quality, and Economic Sustainability of Dairy: A Comparative Study of U.S. and Ireland. The funding will support a collaborative project led by Dr. Luis Peña-Lévano at UC Davis and Dr. Luis Garcia Covarrubias at the University of Galway.
This award was recognized at the UC Davis Global Affairs International Connections Reception, held on April 9, 2026, at the International Center by UC Davis Global Affairs.
Water is a critical input for dairy production, yet the central challenge is not its absolute scarcity but how it is managed across competing uses. Dairy systems depend directly on water for animal hydration, cooling, and cleaning, and indirectly for feed production. At the same time, manure and fertilizers from dairy operations can degrade groundwater quality, while drought and seasonal variability strain water availability in several key producing regions. These pressures have prompted tighter regulatory frameworks governing water use and discharge. The cumulative burden of compliance costs and shifting water governance has placed significant financial pressure on dairy operations, particularly smaller ones, contributing to farm exits and structural consolidation across the industry.
This initiative will build a partnership between UC Davis and the University of Galway to compare water challenges and responses across the five leading U.S. dairy states (California, Wisconsin, Texas, Idaho, and New York) and Ireland. By studying these regions together, the project aims to evaluate how local water constraints, environmental risks, and policy responses affect the sustainability and financial viability of dairy farms. While this work most closely relates to SDG 6 (Clean Water), it still aligns well with other Sustainable Development Goals from the UN, such as zero hunger and sustainable food systems, climate action, and rural economic growth.
What makes this project stand out is its interdisciplinary and international scope. The initiative’s lead researchers will recruit students from UC Davis, and the University of Galway, Ireland with academic backgrounds ranging from agricultural economics to veterinary medicine and animal science. Through this partnership, the project will strengthen global engagement while advancing research on the economic and environmental sustainability of dairy systems.