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The Recharge Zone Podcast

Edwards Aquifer Authority

The Recharge Zone Podcast is the official podcast for the Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA), a regional water management agency, which protects the portion of the Balcones Fault Zone Edwards Aquifer – a jurisdictional area that provides water to approximately two-and-one-half million South Central Texans, and covers more than 8,000 square miles across 8 counties! Tune in to charge up your knowledge on all things Edwards Aquifer from the EAA.

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  • 20 episodes
  • every few months
  • Avg 33 min
  • English

Episodes 20

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  • June 26 · 35 min

    Season 7, Episode 3 | A Mission That Stands the Test of Time with EAA GM Roland Ruiz

    30 years, 1 aquifer, and 3 pillars to the Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA) mission - Manage, Enhance, and Protect the Edwards Aquifer. On this episode we celebrate where the agency has been and where it is going with EAA General Manager Roland Ruiz. Tune in as hosts Brent and Ann-Margaret recount the past with Roland, talk about how the agency has evolved, and what is on the horizon for the EAA, and the future of groundwater security for the EAA jurisdiction.

  • April 16 · 16 min

    Season 7, Episode 2 | The Edwards Aquifer Conservancy

    Hosts Brent and Ann-Margaret welcome Sara Beesley, Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA) Chief Development Officer and Executive Director for the Edwards Aquifer Conservancy (EAC), as she shares insights about her new role and gives an overview of the EAC's nonprofit work and initiatives. For over the past 10 years the EAC, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization set up exclusively for the benefit of the EAA, has been supporting the EAA's mission to manage, enhance and protect the Edwards Aquifer.

  • Dec 22, 2025 · 1 hr 17 min

    Season 6, Episode 6 | The Fundamentals of Hydrogeology with Jack Sharp

    Explore the fundamentals of hydrogeology with EAA Principal Geoscientist, Logan Schmidt, as he discusses the world of groundwater with world renowned hydrogeologist Dr. John "Jack" M. Sharp. Dr. Sharp, professor emeritus in Geology at the University of Texas at Austin, is internationally recognized for his research on groundwater flow, karstic aquifers, urban hydrogeology, and the Edwards Aquifer.

  • Oct 21, 2025 · 26 min

    Season 6, Episode 5 | The Science Behind Aquifer Sustainability

    The Edwards Aquifer Authority Field Research Park (EAA FRP) is a hub for groundwater-related sustainability and aquifer behavior research where EAA staff are demonstrating and evaluating various land management practices and their potential effects on aquifer sustainability. The hypothesis driving the work is that the practices offer potential for improved soil health, added soil water holding capacity, increased infiltration, and reduction of sediments in surface runoff. Hear from Mark Hamilton, EAA Executive Director of Aquifer Management Services, as he shares all the EAA FRP has accomplished since 2019, and the future of aquifer sustainability research on this 151-acre property located adjacent to Cibolo Creek on the Recharge Zone of the Edwards Aquifer in northeast Bexar County, Texas.

  • Aug 15, 2025 · 55 min

    Season 6, Episode 4 | What do caves teach us about the Edwards Aquifer?

    EAA Principal Geoscientist, Logan Schmidt, sat down with Dr. George Veni, Karst hydrogeologist, to discuss the cave features of the Edwards Aquifer that are mostly unseen and how hydrogeologists that study these caves gain insight into how the aquifer system works.

  • May 1, 2025 · 28 min

    Season 6, Episode 2 | Amazing Edwards Aquifer Facts

    Paul Bertetti, EAA Senior Director Aquifer Science Research & Modeling, sat down with hosts Brent and Ann-Margaret to discuss amazing facts you might not know about the Edwards Aquifer!

  • Mar 19, 2025 · 26 min

    Season 6, Episode 1 | Edwards Aquifer Ecology

    On this episode, Brent and Ashley, our guest co-host, discuss the importance of ecology with EAA's Jewell Cozort and Casey Cowan. Jewell and Casey share their knowledge of ecology, and how the interactions between organisms and their environment take shape within the Edwards Aquifer System.

  • Dec 30, 2024 · 17 min

    Season 5, Episode 6 | 2024 Reflections

    Listen along to Brent and Ann-Margaret as they close out the year with an episode all about the EAA's 2024 highlights. The new year will bring impactful initiatives for our agency as we continue to carry out our mission of managing, enhancing, and protecting the Edwards Aquifer!

  • Oct 25, 2024 · 31 min

    Season 5, Episode 5 | The EAA Rebranded

    On this historic episode, hosts Brent and Ann-Margaret sit down with Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA) General Manager, Roland Ruiz; EAA Executive Director for Communications and Development, Michael De La Garza; and EAA Creative Manager for Communications and Development, Ed Flores, as they share how the EAA is rebranding. They will discuss how the EAA brand has evolved over the past 28 years, the initiatives that led to the rebrand, and the new look of the EAA!

  • Aug 29, 2024 · 21 min

    Season 5, Episode 4 | Agriculture Out West

    On this episode, hosts Ann-Margaret and Brent catch up with Isabel Martinez, EAA Senior Permit and Conservation Coordinator, as she discusses the importance of agriculture out West and the EAA's Groundwater Conservation Grant Program.

  • May 17, 2024 · 44 min

    Season 5, Episode 2 | Highway to the Vadose Zone

    The vadose zone, also known as the unsaturated zone, is a critical part of the research happening at the EAA Field Research Park (EAA FRP), and Logan Schmidt, EAA Senior Modeler, joins us on this episode to discuss this intriguing piece of the aquifer system. From defining what the unsaturated zone is to sharing the special techniques used to study this important area, Logan offers insight into how this data could help further the EAA's understanding of water infiltration through the unsaturated zone and into the Edwards Aquifer System.

  • S5 · E1
    Mar 1, 2024 · 24 min

    Season 5, Episode 1 | FRP Well Network

    Monitoring groundwater quality and quantity has always been an important aspect of the Edwards Aquifer Authority's (EAA) mission and core value of science-based policy. The addition of the EAA's Field Research Park (FRP) property in 2019 provided a unique opportunity to closely study the behavior and characteristics of the aquifer system over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. In 2023, the EAA installed a new monitoring well at the FRP, which provides additional insight into the interactions between the Edwards and Trinity Aquifers, the quality of water in the system, and the effects of drought on aquifer water levels. This is now the fifth well in the FRP monitoring network, joining the two existing water wells on the FRP property, and two other wells supplied by neighboring partners. Tune into this episode as Marcus Gary, EAA Principal Geoscientist, explains the process of drilling the newest edition to the FRP monitoring well network and how this data helps further aquifer research at the EAA.

  • S5 · E4
    Dec 21, 2023 · 48 min

    Season 4, Episode 5 | The Edwards Aquifer Summit

    The inaugural Edwards Aquifer Summit was held this past October, and featured informative presentations from EAA General Manager Roland Ruiz, EAA Deputy General Manager Marc Friberg, EAA Executive Director of Aquifer Management Services Mark Hamilton, and EAA Executive Director for Threatened and Endangered Species Scott Storment. Tune in as Brent and Ann-Margaret provide some recaps and highlights from this historic event where city officials and stakeholders, from throughout the EAA's 8 county jurisdiction, had the opportunity to hear from and ask questions to the EAA leadership team.

  • Oct 6, 2023 · 37 min

    Season 4, Episode 4 | The Internship Experience

    The EAA has provided internship opportunities for a wide range of fields, from science to communications, and over the years many students have worked alongside EAA staff to gain enriching experiences that have set the foundation for their careers. Tune in to this episode, where hosts Ann-Margaret and Brent, interview Destiny, Karen, and Sarah about their internship experiences at the EAA, and where they are now.

  • S4 · E3
    Aug 2, 2023 · 20 min

    Season 4, Episode 3 | Precipitation Enhancement Program

    For the past 20 years the EAA has taken a proactive approach to making rain clouds more productive by partnering with the Evergreen Underground Water Conservation District (UWCD) to perform cloud seeding operations. This initiative at our agency is known as the Precipitation Enhancement Program. The actual cloud seeding is performed by the South Texas Weather Modification Association (STWMA), which is a non-profit organization committed to enhancing rainfall across the South Texas region. STWMA is one of five permitted weather modification projects for rain enhancement in the state of Texas! On this episode hosts Ann-Margaret and Brent are joined by Bria Hieatt, State Licensed Program Meteorologist for the STWMA, where she explains the process of cloud seeding and how it's performed over Bandera, Medina, Uvalde counties and the outskirts of Bexar County for the EAA's Precipitation Enhancement Program.

  • May 26, 2023 · 21 min

    Season 4, Episode 2 | The Meadows Center with Robert Mace

    On this episode of the Recharge Zone Podcast, hosts Ann-Margaret and Brent hit the road to interview Robert Mace in San Marcos, TX aboard a glass bottom boat! Learn about the The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, the threatened and endangered species that live in the Edwards Aquifer, and more. Robert Mace is the Executive Director and Chief Water Policy Officer at The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment and a Professor of Practice in the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at Texas State University. Robert has over 30 years of experience in hydrology, hydrogeology, stakeholder processes, and water policy, mostly in Texas.

  • S4 · E1
    Mar 31, 2023 · 32 min

    Season 4, Episode 1 | The EAA Act

    On this episode, Ann-Margaret and Brent visit with Darcy Frownfelter, EAA's longtime general counsel. Darcy discusses how the EAA came into existence through the EAA Act as well as some highlights of his career so far. The EAA Act created the Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA) as a groundwater conservation district, which granted the EAA all of the powers, rights, and privileges necessary to manage, conserve, preserve, and protect the Edwards Aquifer.

Showing 1–20 of 20 episodes