Rob Gailey's research focuses on evaluating factors important for successfully creating paths to sustainable groundwater management. His research integrates with aspects of California's unprecedented groundwater management legislation passed in 2014--SGMA: Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
Relying on hydrologic, engineering, economic and legal aspects, Gailey's interdisciplinary approach identifies approaches, and potential impediments, to groundwater management.
Within his dissertation research, Gailey explores market mechanisms for redistribution of water and evaluates the need for hard constraints on groundwater uses to address market failures. The work is placed within a practical context by developing case studies for different groundwater basins in California.
Rob Gailey brings his wealth of experience to groundwater research and implementation as a graduate student with UC Water.
Rob Gailey has been a practicing hydrogeologist since 1985. His work over the past 30 years, involving both water supply and contaminant hydrogeology, had ranged from performing field investigations and quantitative analysis to regulatory negotiation and expert witness engagements. Rob earned a B.S. in Geology/Biology from Brown University, an M.S. in Applied Hydrogeology from Stanford University, and an M.B.A. from University of California Berkeley. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Davis.