The Water Zone

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

Part two of our discussion on cybersecurity affecting the water, electrical and petroleum industries. Contributors to the discussion are Frank Taylor, former under secretary for Intelligence and Analysis at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Sherri Ramsay, former director of the National Security Agency/Central Security Service Threat Operations Center, Hafsah Lak, former FBI Department of Cyber Security chief, and Harri Hursti, world-renowned data security expert. They discuss issues like the risk of cell phone use for cyber attacks, the dark web, infrastructure safety, the future of cyber security, and how we can get involved.

Podcast Recorded on April 4, 2024

The first of an eye-opening two-part series, this episode dives into the heart of cybersecurity, featuring an elite panel including Frank Taylor, former Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Sherri Ramsay, former Director of the NSA/CSS Threat Operations Center, Hafsah Lak, former FBI Cyber Security Chief, and Harri Hursti, a world-renowned data security expert. Together, they illuminate the potential cyber threats targeting vital infrastructures like water and electrical utilities, and petroleum refineries, while outlining robust response strategies of government agencies and practical measures for private sectors to fortify their IT systems.

Podcast Recorded on March 28, 2024

The New Jersey Irrigation Association is known for its leadership in groundbreaking legislation for the industry. The New Jersey IA helped drive legislation that requires all irrigators in the state to be licensed. Gregg Rogers, owner of Garden Irrigation in New Jersey, chronicles his efforts to help drive new legislation through his work with the Irrigation Association and discusses his company’s growth over the past 30 years. He also describes the many educational activities that they have initiated to provide homeowners and contractors with a wealth of knowledge on irrigation technologies and state regulations.

Podcast Recorded on March 21, 2024

Tom Lucas, president of Performance Nursery, provides a history of how and what attracted him to the green industry. He recounts the changes to the industry over time and how those changes have shaped the sales of low water use plant materials and water conservation. Tom also shares how these changes have impacted marketing, promotion and produced a more educated customer base.

Podcast Recorded on March 14, 2024

Featured guest Seth Bangerter of Thrive Smart Systems joins to share the company’s new valve technology that can immediately and remotely connect back to an installed smart irrigation controller. This product can communicate up to 200 yards through typical landscape obstructions with no wires or pairing required with the controller. He describes how this technology fits within most residential irrigation systems and can manage up to four individual stations.

Podcast Recorded on March 7, 2024

Salt Lake City Utilities is the oldest retail water provider in the west. Conservation Manager for Salt Lake Cities Utilities, Stephanie Duer gives us a brief history on this special purveyor and talks about her role in water conservation. She also shares the many projects that they are involved with focused on water use efficiency and discusses how the organization handles the population growth, climate change, and short-term weather fluctuations that have impacted water supply.

Podcast Recorded on February 29, 2024

Water activist, Seth Siegal, joins the show to share his experience during a recent trip to Israel in a quest to see how the current conflict is affecting people and businesses in the region.  He describes to listeners the even more critical need for water and discusses new, highly efficient technologies for agricultural utilization in the Middle East, Europe and the United States receiving praise for reducing their water usage to grow crops.

Podcast Recorded on February 22, 2024

CEO and General Manager of San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, Heather Dyer, speaks about many of the area’s projects including a gravity pipeline that delivers non-reclaimable waste from the Santa Ana River to an Orange County treatment plant. As well as the Santa Ana River water rights project that provides leadership in the management of water resources throughout its service area. Finally, Heather discusses water conservation education programs and workshops they provide to their customers.

Podcast Recorded on February 8, 2024

Tia Fleming, director of external affairs for the California Water Energy Partnership (CALWEP), gives a brief history of the organization and explains how they advocate for California water agency legislation and regulatory requirements. CALWEP provides technical tools and training as well as professional networking opportunities. It also serves as the technical expert for partners and agencies and fosters research, evaluation and management assistance for conservation rebate programs.

Podcast recorded on January 25, 2024

Featured guest Michael Davidson, president of Davidson Consultants details his experience in Israel relevant to the agricultural industry and how magnetic technology is helping to increase crop production. He shares how the current conflict has impacted food supply, water security and distribution in the region. Michael also provides a broader understanding of what is driving the Israeli AgTech sector and how these new technologies are being shared around the world.

Podcast Recorded on January 18, 2024

Hosts Rob Starr and Chris Davey celebrate the Water Zone being named FeedSpot’s #1 podcast on water with a review of highlights from 2023 including segments with Reese Tisdale and John Berryman from Bluefield Research who addressed national water trends; Innovyze President, David Totman regarding the challenges facing water utilities; and a range of fabulous guests representing climate science, irrigation technology, legislation, water supply, meteorology, education, manufacturing and more.

Podcast Recorded on January 11, 2024

Natasha Rankin, CEO of the Irrigation Association (IA), details the Association's 2023 achievements and reviews legislative activities that helped the IA, water agencies, the agriculture industry, and property owners.  She shares plans to provide interested individuals with a solid understanding of the significant opportunities within the industry and the educational training and networking capabilities for those seeking a great career path.  She also comments on the rise of women in the water industry and how they play a key role in leadership, project management and operations.

Podcast Recorded on January 4, 2024

Metropolitan Water District (MWD) Resource Specialist, Krista Guerro, provides a history of the water purveyor and explains how they serve their Southern California region. She describes her specific role within the organization and details of some of the challenges facing water suppliers right now.  Krista speaks about their progress in water conservation activities over the past 30 years and how their customers have become more water efficient. 

Podcast Recorded on December 14, 2023

Special guest Jeff Graydon, sr. associate director of athletics at Princeton University chronicles his journey in sports fields and grounds and agronomy. Jeff manages the university's sports field design, construction and maintenance including management of various types of natural and synthetic turf. Jeff explains the variables that can impact the field and players like mold and other field characteristics.  He also shares insightful stories about sports fields that he has designed and how they differ throughout the country.

Podcast Recorded on November 16, 2023