Water quality challenges in the Midwest impact not only local waterways but also the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico. To address these issues, farmers are adopting innovative conservation practices supported by financial incentives from the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund. Nick Hermanson, a fifth-generation farmer in Story City, Iowa,…
💧H2O INTRO 🤝 Meet Rochelle Larson The water industry faces a critical challenge: sustaining the workforce pipeline, particularly in small, rural communities where utilities often have just a handful of employees. Rochelle Larson, Principal Engineer at the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, uses her passion for education to build…
Farmers are embracing a new market approach that incentivizes conservation practices delivering water quality and greenhouse gas benefits. Adam Kiel of the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund shares how a pilot project on 9,500 acres in Iowa grew into a program targeting one million acres in 2024, with farmers responding…
Hot Springs, Arkansas, boasts water at 143 degrees rising from 6,000 feet below the surface, enriched by a 4,500-year journey through the Ouachita Mountains. Known for its healing properties, these springs inspired the creation of historic Bathhouse Row, attracting legends like Babe Ruth and Al Capone. As the first federally…
Farmers in Iowa are proving to be powerful allies in reducing flooding through innovative practices. Melissa Roberts of the American Flood Coalition highlights a pilot at FLOLO Farms that uses multi-cropping—doubling root systems with a second crop alongside cash crops. The results are game-changing: a 50% reduction in water runoff,…
Excess nutrients from farms in Iowa and across the Midwest are a major challenge, polluting local waterways and ultimately impacting the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico. To address this, the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund incentivizes farmers to adopt practices that improve water quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.…
Kay Rottell is the Deputy Director of Washington State’s Office of Drinking Water. She explains how the Safe Drinking Water Act provides vital mechanisms for protecting surface water sources that supply 60% of Washington’s population. SDWA also supports treatment standards and allows the state to encourage systems to go beyond…
Flood-prone areas need solutions that serve multiple purposes. In Kinston, North Carolina, Melissa Roberts of the American Flood Coalition shares how a community-driven approach transformed a park into both a floodwater basin and a vibrant public gathering space. By engaging residents with tools like Monopoly money voting, the project prioritized…
💧H2O Minute News⏰ Peter Schwartzstein: The Heat and the Fury is a book written about violence driven by climate change. But a recurring theme is water’s role, as communities grapple with too much and too little. More: https://islandpress.org/books/heat-and-fury#desc News sponsored by 120Water: https://120water.com #ClimateChange #WaterCrisis #TheHeatAndTheFury #PeterSchwartzstein #WaterConflict #EnvironmentalImpact #ClimateViolence…
💧H2O INTRO 🤝 Meet Tirusew Asefa Water utilities often face the challenge of overbuilding or underbuilding infrastructure due to uncertainty in future supply and demand. Traditional planning for a single future scenario can lead to costly inefficiencies. Tirusew Asefa, Systems Decision Support Manager at Tampa Bay Water, shares how the…
Flooding challenges communities nationwide, but local leaders often lack resources and expertise to address the growing crisis. Melissa Roberts of the American Flood Coalition highlights the need for a coalition to support mayors and communities in navigating complex funding processes and planning resilient infrastructure. By bridging gaps and sharing solutions,…
Infrastructure planning relies on accurate data, but outdated models like Atlas 14 fail to account for the increasing intensity of rainfall events. Melissa Roberts of the American Flood Coalition emphasizes the need for Atlas 15, a forward-looking dataset that considers future rainfall trends. This shift is critical to designing infrastructure…
Flooding is impacting communities nationwide with both devastating and costly effects. The solution requires resilience planning, infrastructure adaptation, and community involvement to effectively address flood risk. In this episode, Melissa Roberts of the American Flood Coalition discusses the increasing frequency and impact of flooding across the U.S. and the need…
The Chicago River flows backward. This engineering feat, accomplished in 1900, was designed to protect Lake Michigan, Chicago’s drinking water source, by reversing the river’s flow into the Mississippi. Today, the river has been transformed into a thriving urban centerpiece, with the $100 million Chicago Riverwalk reconnecting the city to…
Outdoor recreation and tourism are vital to the Mississippi River economy, second only to manufacturing. Colin Wellenkamp of the Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative explains how projects at Horseshoe Lake have boosted this industry, drawing more visitors and supporting East St. Louis and neighboring communities. By enhancing areas popular…
Horseshoe Lake in East St. Louis, Illinois, serves as a critical natural buffer against extreme weather, demonstrated during the thousand-year rain event of July 2022. Colin Wellenkamp of the Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative highlights how the enhancement of wetland, marsh, and forested areas, along with expanded connections between…
Climate impacts on communities along the Mississippi River are so severe and persistent that local efforts alone won’t suffice. Colin Wellenkamp of the Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative emphasizes the need for mayors to expand their focus beyond city limits, sometimes many miles away, to implement flood storage projects…
Faced with the reality that conventional infrastructure alone cannot solve municipal water system challenges, mayors along the Mississippi River began exploring alternatives 15 years ago. “We’re not going to pump and pipe our way out of these problems,” explains Colin Wellenkamp of the Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative. Instead,…
💧H2O Minute News⏰ Brenley McKenna of WateReuse California highlights groundbreaking new direct potable reuse (DPR) regulations that set a high standard for the state’s water future. These regulations ensure recycled water meets or exceeds all drinking water standards, with stringent oversight for emerging contaminants. Key provisions include a single agency…
William Moody is the Director of the Bureau of Public Water Supply for Mississippi. Bill says that over the past 27 years, the landscape of water regulation has changed dramatically. Water systems now face the complex challenge of balancing a broad spectrum of requirements to ensure safety. This shift underscores…
💧H2O INTRO 🤝 Meet Will Bulloss Will Bulloss, Chief Strategy Officer for the Western Virginia Water Authority, is passionate about leveraging water and sewer projects to build strong communities. Serving three counties, two towns, and one city in the scenic Roanoke Valley, the Authority faces the challenge of effective regional…
Antoine Walter of the Don't Waste Water podcast highlights a key challenge in the water sector: bridging the gap between innovative technology providers and cautious utilities and end users. Despite the industry's conservative nature, which values safety, Walter believes better connections between potential early adopters and technology companies could accelerate…
The Mississippi River is essential to global agriculture and trade, but it is increasingly vulnerable to climate impacts, including severe droughts and floods, resulting in significant economic and environmental challenges. Colin Wellenkamp, Executive Director of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative (MRCTI), discusses how the coalition is advancing nature-based…
Communities like Cairo, once thriving river towns, face tough realities due to recurring flooding and economic barriers. Many residents cannot simply leave their homes, needing support to rebuild or relocate and make themselves whole, notes Tharran Hobson of The Nature Conservancy. The challenge lies in balancing economic resilience with sustainable…