Water Resources: Science and Society
Debra Perrone, PhD
Researching water scarcity challenges facing society.
Integrating water quality, quantity, and policy sciences.

Global Groundwater Wells at Risk of Running Dry
Globally, groundwater supplies billions of people with drinking water, sustains 40% of global irrigated agriculture, and enables economic productivity summing in the tens-of-billions of dollars. This paper highlights the first-ever global maps showing where groundwater is being used and where human water access is threatened so that groundwater resources can be managed better.


Debra Perrone is an Assistant Professor of UCSB’s Environmental Studies Program and a non-resident fellow of Stanford’s Water in the West Program. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of California, Debra was a postdoctoral research scholar at Stanford University with a dual appointment in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Woods Institute for the Environment. She received her PhD in Environmental Engineering at Vanderbilt University in 2014 and was awarded first honors as the Graduate School’s Founder’s Medalist.
Debra Perrone is a first-generation college attendee.