Water Resources Podcast

Bridget Scanlon

The Water Resources Podcast is designed to conduct interviews with experts to discuss challenges with water resources related to climate, such as droughts and floods, and overexploitation by humans. Potential solutions to these challenges are also discussed. Regions covered range from local to global scale, and approaches considered include satellite and ground-based monitoring, and global to regional modeling. The podcast is hosted by Bridget Scanlon, Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin.

The Water Resources Podcast is a production of the Bureau of Economic Geology, The Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin in partnership with the National Academy of Engineering. The podcast is supported by the Fisher Foundation.

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20 episodes
Updated July 16

Episodes20

Newest first

July 16 · 53 min
Managing Produced Water in the Texas Permian Basin Will Remain a Long-Term Challenge
Katie Smye talks about advanced modeling and satellite-based monitoring for tracking produced water issues in the Permian Basin.
June 18 · 46 min
Assessing Potential for Beneficial Use of Produced Water in the Texas Permian Basin
Shane Walker discusses advances in treating produced water for beneficial uses, including surface discharge and land application.
May 21 · 46 min
Sustainable Groundwater Management in the North China Plain
Wolfgang Kinzelbach is a Professor Emeritus of Hydromechanics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich (Switzerland). His research focused on many aspects of hydrogeology, including modeling and monitoring of water quantity and qualit
May 7 · 53 min
Reservoir Evaporation Monitoring, Drought Index: Texas to Global Scales
Huilin Gao discusses advances in reservoir monitoring using models and new remote sensing, providing daily evaporation rates for Texas, western U.S., and global scales.
April 23 · 39 min
Floods, Droughts, and Data: How Satellites Are Changing Hydrology
Augusto Getirana discusses global flooding in 2025, the new SWOT satellite, advances in NASA modeling and flood work in Brazil.
April 9 · 43 min
Water-Electricity Nexus in the Western U.S.
Nathalie Voisin discusses water-electricity interconnection, highlighting hydropower, hydropower droughts, grid reliability, and future of water-energy management.
March 26 · 59 min
Hydroclimatic Trends in the Western U.S.
Dennis Lettenmaier discusses trends in snow, flooding, and drought in the Western U.S. with a focus on the Colorado River Basin.
March 12 · 1 hr 1 min
Tracking Water from Space: Tibetan Plateau, Mekong Basin, and North China Plain
Di Long discusses his research on the water resources in the Tibetan Plateau Asian Water Tower, reservoirs in the Mekong Basin, and water storage recovery in the North China Plain.
February 26 · 51 min
Monitoring Global Land Subsidence and Impacts
Manoo Shirzaei discusses land subsidence in many regions globally, including Iran, California, Arizona, and U.S. Coast based on satellite data.
February 12 · 45 min
Recent Advances in AI/ML with Applications in Earth Sciences and Hydrology
Alex Sun discusses the evolution of AI/ML over the past decades and resources for hydrology.
January 29 · 41 min
Agricultural Production in the Ukraine and Western Russia
Sergii Skakun discusses historical, current, and projected future wheat production in the Ukraine and Russia using satellite date and modelling.
January 15 · 47 min
Updates on GRACE Satellite Missions and Applications for Flooding
Jürgen Kusche discusses advances in GRACE satellites, applications for flood monitoring, and data assimilation with global hydrology models.
Dec 11, 2025 · 44 min
Increasing Resilience of Water Resources in San Antonio, Texas
Karen Guz discusses water conservation and increasing supplies to meet the rising water needs for population growth and droughts in San Antonio.
Nov 14, 2025 · 48 min
Floods and Droughts in Texas
John Nielsen-Gammon discusses climate extremes, including the July 4th flooding and 2011 drought, with insights into communicating risk.
Oct 30, 2025 · 44 min
Central Texas Flooding and Fatalities
Hatim Sharif discusses recent central Texas flooding in Kerr County and San Antonio and flood fatalities.
Oct 16, 2025 · 45 min
Soil Health
Nima Shokri discusses the importance of global soil health and its impacts on water resources, food security and sustainable development.
Oct 2, 2025 · 1 hr 8 min
South African Lighthouse of Hope from Nature-Based Wastewater Treatment
Kevin Winter discusses nature-based approaches to treating informal settlement discharge for use in agriculture and other sectors.
Sep 18, 2025 · 46 min
Drought and Flood Impacts on US-Mexico Water Resources
Randy Hanson discusses climate extremes in the Rio Conchos and the importance of conjunctively managing surface water and groundwater.
Sep 4, 2025 · 46 min
Increasing Water Consumption in Data Centers Amplifies Local Water Scarcity
Landon Marston discusses rising water intensity of large data centers, resulting in a notable impact on local water demand.
Aug 21, 2025 · 1 hr 1 min
Tracking Recent Conflict in Gaza, Ukraine, and Uganda using Satellites
Jamon Van Den Hoek discusses mapping real-time conflict using satellites and ground-truthing with journalists.

Water Resources Podcast

Managing Produced Water in the Texas Permian Basin Will Remain a Long-Term Challenge

Assessing Potential for Beneficial Use of Produced Water in the Texas Permian Basin

Sustainable Groundwater Management in the North China Plain

Reservoir Evaporation Monitoring, Drought Index: Texas to Global Scales

Floods, Droughts, and Data: How Satellites Are Changing Hydrology

Water-Electricity Nexus in the Western U.S.

Hydroclimatic Trends in the Western U.S.

Tracking Water from Space: Tibetan Plateau, Mekong Basin, and North China Plain

Monitoring Global Land Subsidence and Impacts

Recent Advances in AI/ML with Applications in Earth Sciences and Hydrology

Agricultural Production in the Ukraine and Western Russia

Updates on GRACE Satellite Missions and Applications for Flooding

Increasing Resilience of Water Resources in San Antonio, Texas

Floods and Droughts in Texas

Central Texas Flooding and Fatalities

Soil Health

South African Lighthouse of Hope from Nature-Based Wastewater Treatment

Drought and Flood Impacts on US-Mexico Water Resources

Increasing Water Consumption in Data Centers Amplifies Local Water Scarcity

Tracking Recent Conflict in Gaza, Ukraine, and Uganda using Satellites