The Water Zone

Kathleen Tiegs and Oscar Gonzalez, members of the Board of Directors for Cucamonga Valley Water District (CVWD), join The Water Zone to share on the utility’s history and operation. They discuss CVWD's priorities in providing a reliable water supply for their constituents, what CVWD is doing to continue encouraging water use efficiency, and key challenges and opportunities in the coming years.    

(Podcast recorded on August 29, 2019)

Brent Mecham, Industry Development Director for the Irrigation Association, joins The Water Zone to discuss the importance of pressure regulation for spray bodies, nozzles and rotors.  He also shared on how and where to utilize flow sensors, soil moisture sensors and smart irrigation controllers – including programming tips and connectivity through the Cloud.

(Podcast recorded on August 15, 2019)

Featured guest William Alley, Ph.D., with the National Ground Water Association, joins The Water Zone to discuss the importance of groundwater and how it is essential to the future of water availability and food security.  Dr. Alley explains how ground water is located and measured, and how fracking and pumping groundwater presents serious concerns. He also addresses contamination of groundwater and how desalination of groundwater is becoming more prominent.

(Podcast recorded on August 8, 2019)

Seth Maxwell, CEO and Co-Founder of the Thirst Project, joins The Water Zone to share on his nonprofit and their work with the support of young people to end the global water crises by building freshwater wells in developing communities that need safe, clean drinking water. He discusses a few success stories in the Kingdom of eSwatini, where they have to walk miles just to obtain water which is severely contaminated. He explains how they work with various governments around the globe to help provide their drilling services and educational outreach to people to become more knowledgeable in contaminated drinking water.

(Podcast recorded on August 1, 2019)

Featured guest Joe Frisbie, founder of Sustainable Practices Associates, joins The Water Zone to discuss the availability of water worldwide being a significant issue and the belief that we need to look at water, not as a natural resource, but as a strategic resource. He also discusses a new concept, called "Sponge Cities,” where infrastructure is reconnected to the natural environment.

Chris Austin of Maven’s Notebook also joins the program to share on the latest water news including current differences concerning the biological input regulation between the State of California and the federal government.

(Podcast recorded on July 18, 2019)

Mayor Tara Campbell of Brea, California, joins The Water Zone to discuss several of the city’s conservation programs, and the role water plays in future growth and sustainability for its residents and businesses.  She also addresses the new Modern Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance, and discusses her thoughts regarding the installation of recycled water and non-potable water into the city water system.

Also joining the program was Phil Hawkins, board member of the Yorba Linda Water District. Hawkins provided an overview of the water district’s service area and described where they obtain their water – in addition to sharing his thoughts on California’s proposed water tax and the need for a twin tunnel solution to carry more water throughout the state.  

(Podcast recorded on July 11, 2019)

Featured guest Steve Hazzard, principal of Organic Control, Inc., joins The Water Zone to share how their company produces and sells "beneficial bugs" to proactively protect plants from pests and prevent the use of chemicals. Hazzard also discusses the difference of three insect classifications: predators, parasites and pollinators.  He talks about the most common garden pests and how to naturally combat them, as well how to attract beneficial bugs.

(Podcast recorded on June 20, 2019)

Cleveland (Ohio) Mayor Frank G. Jackson and his staff join The Water Zone to share the city’s upcoming summer celebration, called Sustainable Cleveland. Celebrating 50 years of water-quality improvement initiatives yielding one of the nation’s finest urban water systems, they also discuss the history of Cleveland’s famed Cuyahoga River, which famously burned in 1969 – to Cleveland’s river restoration efforts, water quality standards and a view into the future for the city.

(Podcast recorded on June 13, 2019)

Joined by special guest Julie Gillins with the Washington County Water Conservancy District in St. George, Utah, The Water Zone talks about several of the District’s successful conservation programs, their 5-tier water rate system and penalties applied to heavy water users, and various year-round water efficiency events and classes to educate around water conservation.

(Podcast recorded on June 6, 2019)

Joined by special guest Chris Austin of Maven's Notebook, The Water Zone discusses the federal government’s effort to stop pollution of coastal waters caused by untreated sewage from the Tijuana River Valley. 

Brian Vinchesi, founder of Irrigation Consulting Inc., one of the most formidable irrigation design experts in the country, also joined the program to share his experience with a couple of notable projects – National Park in Washington D.C. and Central Park in New York City, in how he approached each design and installation. He also spoke about the differences in irrigation applications required in various parts of the country, and new irrigation technologies that help utilize water more efficiently. 

 (Podcast recorded on May 30, 2019)

Joined by special guest Chris Austin of Maven's Notebook, The Water Zone talks about a number of water issues ranging from the Central Valley Project, one of the nation's major water conservation developments, to an abandoned iron mine in the Joshua Tree National Park that could be repurposed as a hydroelectric power plant.

Also joining the show was Ted Sirkin, president of Valvette Systems, whose company designs flow regulators for irrigation sprinklers and in-home shower arms that can be retrofitted to help reduce water usage.

(Podcast recorded on May 23, 2019) 

The Water Zone is joined by special guest, Jonathan Overpeck, Ph. D., a renowned climate scientist and researcher who co-authored a Nobel Prize winning report with former Vice President Al Gore. Overpeck currently serves as Dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. On the program, he discusses the various areas that are affected by climate change and stressed the importance of more water storage for the future – and, in some instances, enhanced flooding to help stimulate unwelcome algae bloom growth. His perspectives on the top causes of climate change include the burning of fossil fuels and carbon dioxide, and that the world needs to take these conditions seriously. He also believes that climate change will affect the future of agriculture and will significantly hurt the global economy.

(Podcast recorded on May 9, 2019)

With guest Chris Austin of Maven's Notebook, The Water Zone talks about emerging contaminates that are showing up in California’s wastewater, drinking water and food products – along with discussion on a new trend of “carbon farmers” that are helping to combat climate change by growing plants that absorb carbon.

Also joining the program was featured guest Darren Gruner, principal of Totalscape Design and founder of Turf's Up Radio in Florida, to discuss all things turf and landscape design.

(Podcast recorded on May 2, 2019)

The Water Zone discusses how California's Secretary of Natural Resources will take on the challenge of implementing an ambitious water agenda for the State – along with other water-related issues from recent wildfires to high concentrations of carbon dioxide blowing out to sea.

The program was also joined by Garry Fenton, president of Maximum H2O, to discuss his company's unique technology, called Hydrodynamic Magnetic Resonance.  Currently used in the agricultural, food and landscape industries, he describes how magnetic water treatment helps to deliver more oxygen and nutrients to water, and reduce the amount water and fertilizer used.

(Podcast recorded on April 25, 2019)

With guest Chris Austin of Maven's Notebook, The Water Zone discusses the California Water Commission’s proposal of using flood water for managed aquifer recharge with a focus in on-farm recharge. Also discussed is the drinking water trust legislation, as California seeks to arrange utility marriages, where larger water agencies can either merge or compete with smaller water agencies who cannot provide clean water to their customers.

Also joining the program is Mary Ann Dickinson and Maureen Erbeznick of The Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) to discuss the results of their recent study, "Landscape Transformation - What did the AWE find out?" Dickinson and Erbeznick help explain what is meant by sustainable landscape, and the various rebate and educational programs offered by various water agencies. They also comment on some industry barriers to making landscape transformations and irrigation efficiency happen faster.

(Podcast recorded on April 11, 2019)

With guest Chris Austin of Maven's Notebook, The Water Zone discusses recent changes by the California Water Board to the statewide wetland definition and procedures, which will help protect wetlands and other environmentally sensitive waterways throughout the state. More than 90% of California's wetlands have been lost to development and other human activity. 

Also joining the program is Matt Howard, VP of Water Stewardship for the Water Council of Greater Milwaukee and Director of the Alliance for Water Stewardship North America. He explains the new blue wave, which calls attention to the true value and importance of having and sustaining water resources. He discusses the mission of the Water Council and how they developed the Alliance for Water Stewardship operational standards, and shared those across industries. 

(Podcast recorded on April 4, 2019)

Joined by Richard Daigle from Irrigator Technical Training School, The Water Zone takes an in-depth look backflow prevention systems to protect portable water supplies. They discuss backflow product application and the steps necessary to qualify for testing with county water authorities and apply for local ABPA or AWWA certifications.

(Podcast recorded on March 28, 2019)

Joined by special guest Chris Austin of Maven's Notebook, The Water Zone discusses the Sierra Nevada snowpack, and concerns of warmer weather and the potential for flooding in California's Central Valley and the Reno, Nevada area. They also discuss California Governor Gavin Newsom's idea of favoring a single tunnel solution instead of twin tunnels to help distribute water in the state.

Featured guest, Kathy Nguyen, customer service manager for Cobb County Water in Georgia, shares how the organization won the 2018 EPA WaterSense Sustained Excellence Award.  Nguyen detailed the various and successful conservation programs that helped reduce water usage significantly in her district.  She contributes the overall success to her agency's educational programs, coupled with on-site irrigation audits provided to their constituents.  

(Podcast recorded on March 14, 2019)