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Iris Stewart-Frey (Environmental Studies and Sciences, Environmental Justice and the Common Good Initiative),Jake Dialesandro(Environmental Studies and Sciences) and undergraduate student researchers Samantha Lei ’26 (Environmental Science) and Lilah Foster ’21 (Environmental Science) published an article in Water Resources Research, one of the most highly ranked journals in the water field. In the article, "," they demonstrate that despite stakeholder processes, regional nitrate contamination is rising, and significantly higher with severe drought and Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) proximity. A new metric developed in the study supports the prioritization of monitoring in areas of high nitrate variability, maximum contaminant level exceedance, and low observational density. The authors argue that to guarantee the Human Right to Water, policies to include interannual sampling, domestic well regulations, and source reduction must be enacted. This work is part of a project of the Water and Climate Justice Lab at ÃÛÌÒµ¼º½.