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Episodes

Aug. 21, 2023

#191: Funding To Fight Lead: A Panel Of Perspectives

A group of experts from government, banking, and advocacy gathered at the Reservoir Center in Washington, D.C. to discuss funding options and opportunities and how to advance the work.

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Aug. 14, 2023

#190: Elevating The Emerging Leaders

Fresh perspectives and innovative ideas play a pivotal role in addressing the challenges of the 21st century, such as climate change, water equity, and environmental justice. This is why it's crucial to identify, recognize, and nurture emerging leaders.

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Aug. 7, 2023

#189: Fighting For Fairness In San Joaquin Valley

There are one million people in California without safe drinking water and many of them live in the San Joaquin Valley, a region dominated by agriculture. But there are organizations fighting for fairness in water access.

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July 17, 2023

#188: The Sport of Sustainability

Sports have tremendous influence and impact on many facets of society, including the environment. The potential to turn the sports industry into a driver of sustainability led to the formation of the Green Sports Alliance in 2010.

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July 10, 2023

#187: The PFAS Puzzle: Lessons On Regulations

Some of the big questions about PFAS are how industrial facilities have been able to discharge the chemicals and whether regulations like the Clean Water Act are being properly utilized.

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July 5, 2023

#186: Players For The Planet

Athletes have tremendous influence - on fans, teams, brands, and more. That power can be used to create positive change for the environment.

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June 25, 2023

#185: Careers That Create Change

Many people, particularly in younger generations, want careers that make a positive impact on broad issues such as social justice and climate change. The water industry is promoting that it has jobs that deliver results for people and the planet.

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June 19, 2023

#184: Funding To Fight Lead: Using Municipal Bonds

Replacing the nation’s lead service lines in a timely manner is going to require funding beyond government dollars. The municipal bonds that utilities use for a variety of water infrastructure projects are an untapped resource for lead service line replacement.

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June 12, 2023

#183: Inside Philly’s Green Machine

Philadelphia is one of the country’s leaders in the use of green infrastructure to manage stormwater and bring benefits to communities. Philly has installed 2,800 green tools at more than 800 sites, which together capture a staggering 3 billion gallons …

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June 5, 2023

#182: Ride On A River: The Anacostia

During a ride on the river with Trey Sherard, Anacostia Riverkeeper, he talks about challenges of environmental racism, toxic sediment, and gentrification, as well as progress on sewer overflows, stormwater controls, and community engagement.

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May 22, 2023

#181: The Elevation of DEI in Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has established an Office of DEI that is focusing on an array of work and has a top executive that reports directly to the general manager rather than the human resources department.

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May 15, 2023

#180: Dissecting Distrust In The Tap

Over the past 20 years, trust in public institutions has plummeted and sales of bottled water have skyrocketed. A new book titled Profits Of Distrust explores how these trends are related and the correlation between distrust of tap water and …

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May 9, 2023

#179: The PFAS Puzzle: Lessons On Health

The emergence of PFAS has epidemiologists and toxicologists working to understand the health impacts. Researchers in North Carolina are on the leading edge of the science and discuss what is known about human health impacts.

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May 1, 2023

#178: Envisioning Water In The Year 2050

What will water look like in the year 2050? Envisioning the future and the forces shaping it can help the water utility sector to plan and be proactive.

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April 17, 2023

#177: Living With Water In New Orleans

The traditional use of large, engineered infrastructure to manage water is not enough in New Orleans. This episode explores how the city is adopting a Living With Water approach to bolster its resilience.

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April 4, 2023

#176: Funding To Fight Lead: How Denver Did It

This episode is part of a series, Funding To Fight Lead. There are perhaps 10 million lead service lines in the ground in the U.S. and it may cost $50 billion to remove them. The series explores financing lead service …

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March 27, 2023

#175: The PFAS Puzzle: Lessons On Advocacy

High levels of PFAS in the Cape Fear River meant local advocates had to learn about the complex chemicals and at the same time provide information to concerned community members and take steps to address the pollution.

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March 23, 2023

#174: 50 Years Of Restoring Rivers

For 50 years, American Rivers has worked to protect and restore waterways across the country. Going forward, the goal is to protect one million miles of rivers and remove 30,000 dams by the year 2050

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March 20, 2023

#173: The State Of Water Research

Science has always been foundational to water management. That tradition continues in 2023, with a staggering breadth and depth of research underway.

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March 15, 2023

#172: EPA's Move To Regulate PFAS

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed drinking water regulations for several types of PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals that are pervasive in society and the environment and pose a risk to human health.

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March 13, 2023

#171: Funding To Fight Lead: State & Local Policy

State and local policies play a central role in financing of lead service line replacement. The ability of utilities to use public funds for work on private property is often the key challenge.

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March 6, 2023

#170: Changing The Color Of Water

Analysis has shown a significant lack of diversity in the sources cited in media coverage. The Color of Water platform was created to counter this trend.

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Feb. 27, 2023

#169: Green Mortgage Grows In New Orleans

Nearly two decades after Hurricane Katrina, there are continued efforts to make New Orleans more resilient to storms and climate change. A recent innovation is the green mortgage, a program that helps lower-income people buy ...

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Feb. 20, 2023

#168: The PFAS Puzzle: Lessons On Drinking Water

The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority in Wilmington, N.C. found itself in a difficult situation when high levels of PFAS were discovered in its water. How should the utility manage the forever chemicals, particularly in the absence of drinking water …

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