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Episodes

Oct. 9, 2023

#197: Building Up Rural Resilience

Resilience is a shared characteristic of rural communities, often dealing with adversity through their close-knit and resourceful nature. New strategies and technical assistance can further build up their resilience.

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Oct. 2, 2023

#196: How To Taste Water

A sommelier is commonly associated with wine expertise, but there exists a category of professionals specializing in the assessment of water's taste, texture, and quality. These experts offer valuable insights into attributes like mineral composition, source, and purity

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Sept. 18, 2023

#195: Adventures In Hydrology

Time spent exploring outdoors can provide the best perspective on the state of our water world. This episode delves into the remarkable lessons offered by the mountains and rivers of Colorado, insights shared by Chris Wolff on his Adventure Hydrology …

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Sept. 11, 2023

#194: A View From The Year 2099

It’s the year 2099 and civilization has finally achieved global water sustainability. In this positive era, water is a human right, properly valued, efficiently and productively used, extensively reused, and part of thriving ecosystems.

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Sept. 5, 2023

#193: NFL Becomes More Blue

The NFL has long had an environment program to mitigate the impact of its major events and leave a green legacy in host cities. But over the last few years, water stewardship has become a more prominent part of the …

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Aug. 28, 2023

#192: Oregon's Original Net Zero Hero

There is a movement to make these water facilities net zero, meaning they produce as much energy as they consume. Oregon is home to one of the original net zero facilities in the U.S.

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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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