Water is emerging as a defining factor in U.S. economic growth and national security—from where data centers and energy projects can scale to how communities absorb the rising costs of floods, droughts, and insurance risk.

In response, a new Aspen National Water Strategy has been released, laying out a plan to rethink how the country manages water. This episode is a conversation with the co-leads for developing the strategy, Martin Doyle of Duke University and Newsha Ajami of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Their central argument is a shift in framing: water is not just an environmental or local utility issue—it’s a core economic input and a strategic asset. The discussion explores how that plays out today, from AI and energy demands tied to water availability to insurers effectively redrawing the map of risk across the country. It also gets into what’s holding the system back, including fragmented governance, outdated infrastructure models, and policies that don’t align with how water actually moves through watersheds.

The strategy outlines priorities including governing for outcomes instead of process, investing in rural landscapes that underpin national water supply, and expanding infrastructure to include natural systems, data, and people.

Doyle and Ajami also highlight the need to remove barriers to adopting solutions that already exist, and to rethink financing and business models so innovation can scale.

It’s a clear-eyed look at how water is shaping the economy and risk landscape today—and what it will take to treat it as the national priority it has become.

waterloop is a nonprofit news outlet exploring solutions for water sustainability.