Talk+water Podcast

Send us a textIn this conversation, Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Dr. Rachel Fern, Statewide Wetland Program Leader for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, about the state of wetlands in Texas, including their history, current status, and future challenges. Fern coauthored a recent article in the Texas Water Journal title "The State of Texas Wetlands."Fern is responsible for the statewide administration of wetland habitat projects benefiting migratory game birds. She works with internal and external partners to identify, plan, and coordinate technically complex habitat, research, and public hunting projects for migratory game birds across Texas.Take a deep dive into the world of water with those making waves.

Send us a textIn this conversation, Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Kelley Cochran, General Manager of the Guadalupe County Groundwater Conservation District, about the role Groundwater Conservation Districts play in supporting the state's water management and planning efforts. Cochran joined the district in 2014 as Executive Administrator and was promoted to General Manager in 2018. Since September 2021, she has served as the Administrator of Groundwater Management Area 13 and is the Area Representative for the Edwards Carrizo area of the Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts. She is a 2021 Texas Water Leaders Program graduate, past Chairwoman and first female Chair of the Groundwater Science Division of the Texas Ground Water Association, and recipient of the Texas Ground Water Association's 'Ground Water Science Person of the Year' award January 2023.Take a deep dive into the world of water with those making waves.

Send us a textIn this conversation, Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with James Perry, Executive Vice President of the EarthWorks Division of ASTERRA, about innovative remote sensing technologies to support water management.Perry has spent over 30 years driving disruptive innovation. In both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies, James’ key mission is market adoption and to achieve a deeper foothold into new markets. James currently serves as the Vice President for Business Development at ASTERRA, based in San Diego, California.Take a deep dive into the world of water with those making waves.

Send us a textIn this conversation, Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Karrigan Börk, Acting Professor of Law at the University of California Davis (UC Davis) School of Law, about federal efforts to protect wetland habitats.Börk graduated from Stanford Law School in 2009 and completed his Ph.D. dissertation in Ecology at UC Davis in 2011. He clerked for Tenth Circuit Chief Judge Mary Beck Briscoe, U.S. District Court Judge Julie Robinson, and Judge Janice Karlin on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas. His publications run the gamut from the definitive text on the history and application of California Fish and Game Code Section 5937 to a hatchery and genetic management plan for spring-run Chinook salmon. He is currently examining legal and ethical issues in ecological restoration. His past work has focused on the management of guest species, those invasive species that managers invite in and make comfortable, and on the evolution of law via administrative actions. He is c

Send us a textIn this conversation, Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler discusses managed aquifer recharge with Dr. Helen Dahlke, Associate Professor of Integrated Hydrologic Sciences at the University of California, Davis, and leader of the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Water Strategic Initiative.Dr. Dahlke has a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Cornell University. Her current research interests include surface water–groundwater interaction, water resources management, vadose zone transport processes, and applications of DNA nanotechnology in hydrology. One of Helen’s main research efforts focuses on testing the feasibility of using agricultural fields as recharge sites for groundwater banking.Take a deep dive into the world of water with those making waves.

Send us a textTexas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Brian Richter, President of Sustainable Waters, a global organization focused on water scarcity challenges.Brian Richter has been a global water science and conservation leader for over 30 years. At Sustainable Waters, he promotes sustainable water use and management with governments, corporations, universities, and local communities. He previously served as Director of the Global Water Program of The Nature Conservancy, an international conservation organization. Richter has consulted on more than 170 water projects worldwide. He serves as a water advisor to some of the world’s largest corporations, investment banks, and the United Nations and has testified before the U.S. Congress on multiple occasions. He teaches Water Sustainability at the University of Virginia.Richter has developed scientific tools and methods to support river protection and restoration efforts, including the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration software used worldwid

Send us a textTexas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Dr. Manny Teodoro, Professor for the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin, about issues facing the drinking water industry.Dr. Manny Teodoro's research stands at the nexus of politics, public policy, and public management. He works mainly on American environmental policy design, evaluation, and implementation. This line of research includes explorations of public verse private utility management and regulatory implementation as a matter of environmental justice. On the public management side, his work emphasizes professional labor markets as predictors of innovation and organizational performance.Dr. Teodoro's 2011 book, Bureaucratic Ambition (Johns Hopkins University Press), argues that career concerns shape organizational innovation and democratic governance. His 2022 book, The Profits of Distrust (with Samantha Zuhlke, David Switzer, Cambridge University Press), links the meteoric rise of the com

Send us a textTexas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks about water-related bills that passed during the 88th Session of the Texas Legislature with Jeremy Mazur, Senior Policy Advisor for Texas 2036, Sarah Schlessinger, Chief Executive Officer of the Texas Water Foundation, and Carlos Rubinstein, Principal at RSAH2O, LLC, and Perry Fowler, Executive Director of the Texas Water Infrastructure Network (TWIN).Rubinstein was appointed chairman of the Texas Water Development Board from 2013-2015. During his tenure, he oversaw the implementation of the $2 billion State Water Infrastructure Fund for Texas. Rubinstein also served as a commissioner of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TECQ) from 2009–2013. He has also served as deputy executive director of TCEQ and Rio Grande Watermaster.As the Executive Director of the TXWIN, Fowler leads the organization’s efforts to build a strong, sustainable, and competitive Texas water infrastructure construction market through policy development, educatio

Send us a textTexas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Texas Tribune reporters Jayme Lozano Carver and Alejandra Martinez about the Tribune’s Broken Pipes series, which examines the state's deteriorating water infrastructure.Jayme Lozano Carver is the Texas Tribune's first Lubbock-based reporter, covering the South Plains and Panhandle through a partnership with Report for America. She previously worked for Texas Tech Public Media, Lubbock's NPR station, where she spearheaded "Rural Healthcare: The Other Texas Drought," a series for PBS' "Frontline" on rural hospital closures in Texas. She also covered a broad range of topics for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, including climate change, agriculture, entertainment, and health care. Born in Levelland, Carver is a native of the South Plains area and studied at South Plains College and Texas Tech University. She loves to talk about her cats, horror movies, and pro wrestling.Alejandra Martinez joined the Texas

Send us a textTexas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Kevin Kluge, Water Conservation Manager for Austin Water, about programs offered by Austin Water that help customers conserve water.As Water Conservation Manager, Kluge oversees a range of water conservation programs, including incentives, irrigation evaluations, commercial efficiency assessments, and water waste enforcement. Prior to his position with Austin Water, he spent 20 years with the Texas Water Development Board, culminating in the role of Director of Conservation and Innovative Water Technologies. Kevin holds a Master of Science in Natural Resource Utilization and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.Take a deep dive into the world of water with those making waves.

Send us a textTexas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks about water and the 88th Session of the Texas Legislature with Perry Fowler, Executive Director of the Texas Water Infrastructure Network (TXWIN), Sarah Schlessinger, Chief Executive Officer of the Texas Water Foundation, and Jeremy Mazur, Senior Policy Advisor for Texas 2036.As the Executive Director of the TXWIN, Fowler leads the organization’s efforts to build a strong, sustainable, and competitive Texas water infrastructure construction market through policy development, education, and advocacy. He is also the Principal of Fowler Group Texas, LLC providing lobbying, government affairs, business consulting, association, and coalition management services. Mazur directs Texas 2036’s work in the area of natural resources, which includes water, oil and gas, and energy.  Since joining Texas 2036 in September 2021,. Mazur also directs research and policy development in water. His current projects include a study on water markets, developing a stra

Send us a textTexas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Lori Olson, Executive Director of the Texas Land Trust Council, about two bills, HB 3165 and HJR 138, in the current legislative session that, if passed, would create the Texas Land and Water Conservation Fund. Olson has served as the Executive Director of the Texas Land Trust Council since July 2011, working to strengthen the coalition of land and water conservation organizations working across Texas. In her work with the Council, she engages in state and federal advocacy, strategic outreach and research projects that promote the many benefits of conservation, and offers training and technical assistance, including hosting the annual Texas Land Conservation Conference. Olson has over two decades of experience in land conservation, working with land trusts in Oregon, North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas.Take a deep dive into the world of water with those making waves.

Send us a textTexas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with David Baker and Robin Gary with the Watershed Association (WA) about the ongoing drought's impacts on Jacob's Well and the Trinity Aquifer.Baker is an artist, conservationist, and environmental advocate equally at ease with a brush in his studio or envisioning an environmental canvas the size of the Texas Hill Country. Since moving his family to the iconic Jacob’s Well Spring near Wimberley in 1988, he has dedicated his life and boundless creative energy to the land, water and building a conservation network across Cypress Creek, the Blanco River watershed, and the Texas Hill Country. He founded the WA in 1996 and has since served as the Executive Director, having assembled more than 400 acres of owned and managed conserved lands surrounding Jacob’s Well in honor of protecting it and the waters that feed it.Before joining the WA, Gary worked as a geographer for the U.S. Geological Survey's Texas Water Science Center doing da

Send us a textTexas Water Journal and Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Carlos Rubinstein, Principal at RSAH2O, LLC, and Vanessa Puig-Williams, Director of the Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) Texas Water Program, about flaws in Texas' groundwater planning process and the water legislation in the 88th Texas Legislature.Rubinstein was appointed chairman of the Texas Water Development Board from 2013-2015. During his tenure, he oversaw the implementation of the $2 billion State Water Infrastructure Fund for Texas. Rubinstein also served as a commissioner of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TECQ) from 2009–2013. He has also served as deputy executive director of TCEQ and as Rio Grande Watermaster. Puig-Williams leads EDF’s efforts to advance sustainable groundwater management in Texas. Prior to joining EDF, she was the Executive Director of the Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Association. As a water and environmental attorney, she has advised landowners and nonprofi

Send us a textTexas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Jim Bradbury, founder of James D. Bradbury, PLLC, about water policy issues related to agriculture and landowner rights. After practicing with some of the largest law firms in Texas, Bradbury formed his own firm to serve his clients more directly. James D. Bradbury, PLLC, serves Austin, Fort Worth, and Montana. He has practiced for over three decades, representing clients in litigation of all types: real estate, water law, conservation, and eminent domain. Bradbury has extensive trial experience and has served as counsel in many trials. He is admitted to practice before courts in Texas, Arkansas, and Montana as well as the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Fifth and Eighth Circuits and the U.S. Supreme Court. His approach to client problems is straightforward and direct.Take a deep dive into the world of water with those making waves.

Send us a textTexas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Reem Zoun, PE, CFM, ENV SP, Director of the Flood Planning Division at the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), about developing the first state flood plan for Texas. Zoun is leading the TWDB's effort towards developing the statewide flood planning program, the delivery of the first sets of regional flood plans, and the state flood plan for the State of Texas. She has over 22 years of private and public sector experience in engineering, modeling, mapping, capital improvement project portfolio management and delivery, management, and leadership. Before joining the TWDB in 2019, Zoun worked for the City of Austin, AECOM, Pasminco Elura Mine, and the Victoria Department of Natural Resources and Environment in Australia.Take a deep dive into the world of water with those making waves.

Send us a textTexas Water Journal and Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Todd Votteler, talks with Maria Richards, Geothermal Laboratory Coordinator in the Department of Earth Sciences at Southern Methodist University (SMU), and Joseph Batir, Geothermal Lead at Petrolern, about the geothermal energy potential of Texas. Recently, the Texas Water Journal published their article, “Determining Geothermal Resources in Three Texas Counties.”Maria Richards' research focuses on geothermal resources and energy development. Her projects vary from computer-generated temperature-depth maps for Google.org to on-site geothermal exploration of the volcanic islands in the Northern Mariana Islands. Currently, her concentration is on the conversion of oil/gas wells into geothermal energy producers.  She co-coordinates the SMU Node of the National Geothermal Data System funded by the Department of Energy. Past research includes the Eastern Texas Geothermal Assessment, Geothermal Map of North America, and the resource assessm

Send us a textTexas Water Journal and Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Todd Votteler, talks with Jeremy Mazur, Senior Policy Advisor for Texas 2036, about water policy priorities in Texas.Mazur directs Texas 2036’s work in the area of natural resources, which includes water, oil and gas, and energy.  Since joining Texas 2036 in September 2021, Mazur has played a leading role in Texas 2036’s energy expansion project, charting an energy future that includes cleaner oil and gas and renewable sources of energy.  Mazur also directs research and policy development in water.  His current projects include a study on water markets, developing a strategic implementation plan for recent federal water legislation, and improving the state’s infrastructure and resilience to extreme weather.Drawing on over 20 years of experience working in the Texas legislature and critical state agencies, Mazur works directly with state and legislative leaders on policy changes needed for Texas’ energy and water future. Before coming to Te

Send us a textTexas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Glenn Hegar, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, about initiatives from the Comptroller’s office to ensure the state’s water supplies meet future demands. Hegar was elected as the 36th Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts in November 2014 and was re-elected for the second time in 2022. He is Texas' chief financial officer — the state's treasurer, check writer, tax collector, procurement officer, and revenue estimator. As CFO for the world's ninth-largest economy, he monitors Texas' financial health. Hegar has worked to bring public and legislative attention to long-term financial obligations facing the state, such as water infrastructure maintenance - needs that have caused major financial difficulties in other states and which rarely receive adequate attention in the give-and-take of Texas' biennial legislative budgeting process. Before he was elected as Texas Comptroller, Hegar served in the Texas House of Repr

Send us a textTexas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Steve Lohr, President and CEO of J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines in California, about sustainable water management practices for vineyards. As the President and CEO of J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines, Lohr is responsible for the overall management and strategic planning of J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines, with a particular focus on sales and finance. In 1972, at age 10, Lohr helped his father, Jerry, plant their first vineyards in Greenfield, California. After graduating from Stanford University with degrees in civil engineering and economics, he split his time between winegrowing and designing and building high-end custom homes on the San Francisco Peninsula. In 2003, Lohr wrapped up his flourishing custom home-building career to devote his full energy to J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines. In 2013, he was promoted to CEO of J. Lohr Winery. Steve sits on the Board of the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, which promotes the adoption of sus