The Water Zone

This episode features Mike Hightower, program director of the New Mexico Produced Water Research Consortium; Justin Mattingly, manager of the Water Reuse Program at the U.S. EPA; and Malynda Cappelle, facility manager of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility. The discussion centers around the EPA’s Water Resource Action Plan (WRAP), highlighting key priorities such as produced water and water stewardship. The guests delve into the federal role in treating and reusing produced water for agriculture, with Malynda Cappelle detailing her work on treatment requirements and new water treatment technologies. They also share insights on current efforts in New Mexico, California, Wyoming, and Texas to use produced water for irrigation, and review survey results on using treated produced water for various crops.

Podcast Recorded on August 22, 2024

On this week’s show, Cynthia Campbell, water resources manager and advisor for the City of Phoenix, AZ, discusses how her passion for water conservation led her to the water industry after serving as the assistant city manager and working as an attorney. She provides insight into the current state of water in her district, highlighting the conservation initiatives spearheaded by Phoenix Water, including a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment center that creates more usable water for the community. Cynthia shares her involvement in key projects such as the "Save Water to Promote Water Conservation" pledge, a drought simulation game testing residents' ability to manage a city's water portfolio, and a stormwater awareness campaign that encourages year-round efforts to prevent pollution. She also highlights the latest rebate incentives, including smart irrigation controllers and turf removal programs, aimed at promoting sustainable water use among constituents.

Podcast Recorded on August 15, 2024

This week’s guest is Ralph Holt, the owner of Eco-Verde Irrigation Company in Phoenix, AZ. He shares insights about his business and what sets it apart from other companies. Ralph’s motto is “Turf is not a four-letter word,” and he discusses the importance of turfgrass for the environment. He also describes various water-saving methods that don’t involve removing existing landscapes. His presentation includes a commonsense discussion on sustainability, covering topics such as conservation, risk, compliance, monitoring, and more.

Podcast Recorded on August 8, 2024

Darcy Burke, a board member for the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, shares her experience as a government advisory committee member for the EPA. She co-chairs water and climate adaptation communication workgroups and participates in The California Water for Food & People Movement. This movement's mission is to unite all of California's water-for-food-and-people advocates, coalitions, organizations, groups, bureaus, alliances, growers, and more into one large action force. Their goal is to compel immediate long-term solutions to protect and provide water for humans. She describes the organization’s grassroots efforts around water management and its commitment to education and water policy.

Podcast Recorded on August 1, 2024

Lou Bendon, president of Flycatcher Marketing, has over 40 years of strategic marketing experience in water and commercial industries. In this episode, Lou tells us about the AWWA's (American Water Works Association) mission to decarbonize water by creating renewable energy from existing water pipeline infrastructure. He explains that water utilities and other water intensive industries face climate disruption, and increased energy costs that threaten the reliability of the water supply. Lou shares emerging technologies that are helping to solve the issue of decarbonization of water while also lowering energy costs.

Podcast Recorded on July 25, 2024

The Water Report offers in-depth analysis of solutions written by the world's industry leaders covering a breadth of perspectives and expertise across multiple sectors. The monthly publication’s Owner and Editor in Chief Shaina Shay details her experience dealing with water use efficiency and varied water policies. Shaina describes how she came to purchase the publication and how she is using her expertise in water policy and management, conservation, and community outreach to take The Water Report to the next level.

Podcast Recorded on July 11, 2024 

Candidate for Arizona State Representative, Gary Snyder talks about his experience in the farming industry. He discusses how he promotes and implements water conservation and soil management best practices into his farming activities. Gary also describes the need for a higher appreciation of water and new technologies to help farmers and the public use water more efficiently. Gary also provides his vision for the future of water in Arizona, and how his ideas and water management knowledge play a significant role in his bid for Arizona State legislation.

Podcast Recorded on June 27, 2024

Scott Burr and Rick Penn of Accelerated Filtration, explain their new technology, specialized metal filters designed for produced water markets. They provide detail on the unique challenges of this innovative start-up and how this specialized filtration helps clean contaminants from dirty water, and how it can help provide solutions in several applications. This breakthrough technology is being met with much excitement in the marketplace and the technology is being advanced through the work of its users.

Podcast Recorded on June 20, 2024

Ron Burke, president and CEO of the Alliance for Water Efficiency, explains the organization’s mission and presents their priorities around education, advocacy, research, and training. Ron also takes us on a deep dive into the approach to water efficiency in regions throughout the U.S. He tells us about the organization’s strategic plans, their vision for the future of water in the U.S., and what needs to be accomplished to fix top issues facing the industry.

Podcast Recorded on June 13, 2024

Guest Charley Wilson, executive director and CEO of the Southern California Water Coalition, provides his perspective on the biggest water challenges in California today and what his organization is doing to secure greater water supplies. He shares his thoughts on how climate change is affecting water supplies and discusses the status of the Delta Fix project. He also speaks about the need to expand storm water storage throughout the state, the implementation of desalination projects and presents his view on the future of water.

Podcast Recorded on June 6, 2024

The first of a six-part series on New Mexico Produced Research Consortium, a joint effort of the New Mexico Environment Department and New Mexico State University. Throughout this series, we will have participating members in the Consortium like EPA representatives, government agencies, legislators, scientists, and utilities representatives, to share their perspectives and contributing actions toward the implementation of produced water. In this episode, Mike Hightower, Consortium program director, provides insight into the EPA's National Water Reuse Action and explains the significant role of produced water in that plan. He also describes "the Global One Water Concept" and how the concept can provide for water resilience and reliability.

Podcast Recorded on May 30, 2024

Irrigation Association President and owner of Surf ‘N Earth Enterprises, Inge Bisconer, describes her role and plans for working with membership, the industry and legislators. Inge reflects on recent accolades from the American Society of Irrigation Consultants and her 40 plus years in the irrigation industry. A long-time advocate for sustainability and water use efficiency, she has been a leading expert helping agricultural growers improve their profitability through better technology, management, and education.  Her newest educational endeavor includes the co-development of a software program to monetize the benefits of efficient irrigation.

Podcast Recorded on May 23, 2024

Special guest Steven Moore, CEO of Moore Water Management, talks about best practices in water management and how they can be practically applied in the real world.  He describes evapotranspiration (ET) and factors to consider when developing watering plans like crop coefficients, soil conditions, temperature, humidity, wind, and solar radiation. Finally, he discusses smart controllers and soil moisture sensors, how each works hand-in-hand to provide the right watering schedule and how ET data plays a role in delivering precise irrigation schedules.

Podcast Recorded on May 16, 2024

Moses West Foundation leverages cutting edge atmospheric water generation technology to provide water access, foster community development and promote environmental responsibility. Founder Moses West joins the show to present the foundation’s latest technology for atmospheric water generation. He also shares how the foundation has generated over 5 million gallons of clean water around the world since its launch and how it has provided many potable water generator systems to the US military, the Red Cross and others. This unique technology has proven effective in any type of environment, even in the hottest deserts.

Podcast Recorded on May 9, 2024

We are joined by friend of the show, John Farner, executive director of the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy, a center at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. John provides insight on the center’s activities and objectives. He also details the history and importance of the Colorado River Basin and why the center started its work there. He addresses the biggest challenges facing the basin and highlights some key programs relevant to overall global water challenges.

Podcast Recorded on May 2, 2024

This week’s guest is Thomas Schumann, CEO of Thomas Schumann Capital (TSC). TSC has emerged as a leading advocate for sustainable freshwater management and global water security. Recognizing the importance of water, TSC’s mission is to harness innovative strategies to protect freshwater supplies for the future. The company has also developed innovative financial instruments to promote water security, including the world’s first security token backed by real-world assets in the form of Arctic freshwater exploration rights. They have also developed the TSC Water Security Index, the world’s first index family to measure water risks in equities and portfolios for global capital markets.

Podcast Recorded on April 25, 2024

Chris Willis, owner of Colorado Total Maintenance company located in Denver, Colorado details his journey from grounds worker to business owner.  Colorado Total Maintenance manages landscape and irrigation for the City of Denver Parks & Recreation along with other large scale commercial properties. Chris believes that his experience starting in the industry and the opportunity to learn from experts has made him a wiser businessman and a owner. He provides insight to the many irrigation opportunities that his company deals with each day, educational resources from the Irrigation Association and Colorado State University, and mentorship experiences in the soil, water and plant testing laboratory.

Podcast Recorded on April 18, 2024

Theo Wirtz and Philliph Prosenko of the IRRISketch company discuss their low-cost, innovative web-based irrigation system planner for landscape professionals and homeowners. Their software can significantly reduce the time to create a professional irrigation system design down to approximately 30 minutes. The system automatically determines pipe size, spray heads or rotors required and how many can be operated by each valve. IRRISketch also identifies all the components needed to install the irrigation system from to PVC connectors to the controller. IRRISketch’s suggested pricing is around $450 versus the thousands of dollars for other design systems.

Podcast Recorded on April 11, 2024