Talking Water

In this episode we're joined by Joy Reeves (Senior Director of Policy and Strategic Development) and MacEva Wright (Stanback Presidential Fellow/Marine Biologist) of the Rachel Carson Council (RCC) to discuss the legacy of Rachel Carson as well as present day environmental justice issues and how the RCC faces these challenges by uplifting education and action within the communities they impact. 

To learn more about the Rachel Carson Council please visit: https://rachelcarsoncouncil.org/  

Hosted by: Kate Bunney

Produced & Edited by: Jay Lamars

Intro music by: Mamuse 'River Run Free' - featuring Walter Strauss

If you feel inspired by Talking Water please consider a donation - our work relies on the community. You can donate here. https://walking-water.org/donate/

For more info go to Walking Water website. https://walking-water.org/

Very excited to welcome Ani Kodjabasheva of The Collective in Bulgaria to talk about the Rivers of the City initiative.

What is the relationship we have with the river when we live in City areas? And how can we restore that relationship? 

Hosted by: Kate Bunney

Produced & Edited by: Jay Lamars

Intro music by: Mamuse 'River Run Free' - featuring Walter Strauss

If you feel inspired by Talking Water please consider a donation - our work relies on the community. You can donate here. https://walking-water.org/donate/

For more info go to Walking Water website. https://walking-water.org/

We're joined by Co-Executive Directors of Bayou City Waterkeeper, Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud and Kristen Schlemmer for a discussion on how they engage community to help shape the policies that protect the waters around them.

Bayou City Waterkeeper protects the waters and people of the Houston region through bold legal action, community science, and creative, grassroots policy to further justice, health, and safety for our region.

Over the last two decades, Bayou City Waterkeeper has emerged as a bold advocate for communities across the Lower Galveston Bay watershed. Through sound science and creative legal strategy, they work toward a shared vision of water justice. As they shape policy solutions that embrace the strength of the region’s natural systems, they are most effective when centering the experience of communities most vulnerable to water, climate, and infrastructure injustices.

Learn more at: https://bayoucitywaterkeeper.org/

Hosted by: Kate Bunney

Produced & Edited by: Jay Lamars

Intro music by: Mamuse 'River Run Free' - featuring Walter Strauss

If you feel inspired by Talking Water please consider a donation - our work relies on the community. You can donate here. https://walking-water.org/donate/

For more info go to Walking Water website. https://walking-water.org/

Nina Gordon-Kirsch is a river lover who walked 240 miles from her home town in Oakland, CA up into the Sierra Nevada mountains to trace where her drinking water came from. She is now working on an educational film and classroom curriculum to bring into Bay Area schools to connect students to their water source. Nina has worked with water in many different settings, both in the US and internationally, and is now the Massachusetts River Steward at the Connecticut River Conservancy. 

Hosted by: Kate Bunney

Produced & Edited by: Jay Lamars

Intro music by: Mamuse 'River Run Free' - featuring Walter Strauss

If you feel inspired by Talking Water please consider a donation - our work relies on the community. You can donate here. https://walking-water.org/donate/

For more info go to Walking Water website. https://walking-water.org/

In this episode of Talking Water we are joined by Lesli Allison, CEO, and Morgan Wagoner Western Water Program Director of The Western Landowners Alliance to discuss the shifts, challenges and wins in environmental conservation in the Western U.S. as well as debunking some myths around the efforts of Landowners contributions in ecological protection and restoration. 

Lesli and Morgan hold the stories of the many Landowners they are in alliance with; listen in as they dive into experiences and insights from their collective that shape a broader conversation around a delicate balance between nature and economy. 

Learn more and engage with the Western Landowners Alliance on their website HERE

Hosted by: Kate Bunney

Produced & Edited by: Jay Lamars

Intro music by: Mamuse 'River Run Free' - featuring Walter Strauss

If you feel inspired by Talking Water please consider a donation - our work relies on the community. You can donate here. https://walking-water.org/donate/

For more info go to Walking Water website. https://walking-water.org/

In Talking Water with renowned wildlife cinematographer Justine Evans, we reflect and dive into Justine's connection to Water. From early childhood memories of playing in the River Thames, to breaking into the nature-documentary industry as a camera woman, to traveling the world and witnessing nature's wonders. We explore her journey from being a uniquely patient and quiet observer, to becoming an outspoken and influential activist for the natural world as she stepped into her role as lead claimant in the UKs largest class-action lawsuit for water protection and environmental justice. 

About Justine Evans 

Justine is a well known wildlife cinematographer and filmmaker whose career has spanned over three decades. Her work can be seen on many landmark BBC, National Geographic, Disney and Netflix productions such as Planet Earth 1, 2 and 3 (BBC), Queens (Disney+), Seven Worlds (BBC), Dynasties (BBC), Night On Earth (Netflix) to name just a few. 

She has been seen in front of camera for the popular BBC Expedition series and many 'behind the scenes' segments of major wildlife documentaries. She is primarily a long lens cinematographer specialising in detailed animal behaviour and teasing out strong stories.  She has worked extensively in the tropics and is very experienced at filming from height, especially in the tropical forest canopy and she is also well known for her iconic night filming, often of never seen before animal behaviour.

Justine also mentors less experienced filmmakers making their way into the industry and has an active role with the UK’s National Film and Television School mentoring students on the Science and Natural History MA course.

Hosted by: Kate Bunney

Produced & Edited by: Jay Lamars

Intro music by: Mamuse 'River Run Free' - featuring Walter Strauss

Hosted by: Kate Bunney

Produced & Edited by: Jay Lamars

Intro music by: Mamuse 'River Run Free' - featuring Walter Strauss

If you feel inspired by Talking Water please consider a donation - our work relies on the community. You can donate here. https://walking-water.org/donate/

For more info go to Walking Water website. https://walking-water.org/

If you look at the work happening in LA with water advocacy, especially in how it relates to climate resilience, you’ll find Accelerate Resilience L.A. (ARLA). Join this inspiring and activating conversation with the team, sharing their hopeful and healing vision for Los Angeles in a time of climate change.  

We dive into ARLA’s work for a water sufficient Los Angeles. In this conversation, we wind through the mythologies of LA as a place of water scarcity that needs to extract water from other places in order to survive. The ARLA team evokes the cultural shifts necessary for Angelinos to be in relationship with water and see their region as a life-giving watershed rather than a desert. 

The team also talks about the tangible infrastructure changes needed to help the municipalities of LA be water sufficient. They describe the exciting development of the Infrastructure Field Kit platform, enabling communities and groups to develop water conserving and regenerating projects. 

About Accelerate Resilience L.A. (ARLA)

Accelerate Resilience L.A. (ARLA) envisions Los Angeles as a climate-resilient region that is safer, healthier, and more prepared for our increasingly dangerous climate reality. They engage in capacity building, cross-sector collaboration, and community engagement to advance multi-benefit approaches that are key to developing individual and collective climate resilience. 

Hosted by: Kate Bunney

Produced & Edited by: Anne Carol Mitchell

Intro music by: Mamuse 'River Run Free' - featuring Walter Strauss

If you feel inspired by Talking Water please consider a donation - our work relies on the community. You can donate here. https://walking-water.org/donate/

For more info go to Walking Water website. https://walking-water.org/

Hosted by: Kate Bunney

Produced & Edited by: Jay Lamars

Intro music by: Mamuse 'River Run Free' - featuring Walter Strauss

If you feel inspired by Talking Water please consider a donation - our work relies on the community. You can donate here. https://walking-water.org/donate/

For more info go to Walking Water website. https://walking-water.org/

“The walks have been such a good movement. We’ve made a lot of progress. The walks have been a really good bridge for bringing people together and for us being able to share and connect and help people be more aware. It’s helped us at the tribal level for getting support behind the work and the things we’re needing to do and we do on a daily basis.” – Teri Red Owl, Executive Director, Owens Valley Indian Water Commission

Join us in the circle of community with the Lake to Lake team, our partners, and walkers. In this rich conversation, we hear reflections about the walks from 10 years ago in acknowledgement of the original journey, and we hear visions for the walks to come this September. We will be retracing our path from Mono Lake to Owens Lake/Patsiata as a coalition carrying intentions and prayers for restoring right relationship to water in Owens Valley/Payahuunadü

Our partners Teri Red Owl and Kyndall Noah (Owens Valley Indian Water Commission), Kathy Bancroft (Elder of the Lone Pine Paiute Tribe), and Charlotte Lange (Mono Lake Kootzaduka'a Tribe), talk about the current situation with Los Angeles DWP and the work that has grown since the first walks.

We also hear from the Walking Water Lake to Lake team and other walkers, adding their voices to a vision of restoring our relationship with the lands and waters. 

Hosted by: Kate Bunney

Produced & edited by: Anne Carol Mitchell

Intro music by: Mamuse 'River Run Free' - featuring Walter Strauss

If you feel inspired by Talking Water please consider a donation - our work relies on the community. You can donate here. https://walking-water.org/donate/

For more info go to Walking Water website. https://walking-water.org/

Hosted by: Kate Bunney

Produced & Edited by: Jay Lamars

Intro music by: Mamuse 'River Run Free' - featuring Walter Strauss

If you feel inspired by Talking Water please consider a donation - our work relies on the community. You can donate here. https://walking-water.org/donate/

For more info go to Walking Water website. https://walking-water.org/

“We have seen a lot of conflict arising from one community to another because of sharing this water resource. The universe communicated to me when I saw how the soil reacts, because there’s not enough water, how plants are suffering—they’re withering. So, I took the initiative to work with the communities for finding enough clean water. How can we repair our relationship by sharing this resource?” –Philip Munyasia founder OTEPIC

We welcome Ethan Hirsch-Tauber and Philip Munyasia for global and local conversation on how restoring relationships with water brings community healing, food security, and ecological health.

Philip Munyasia founder OTEPIC (Organic Technology Extension and Promotion of Initiative Centre) is based in Kenya. He works with women, farmers, and youth on permaculture techniques for harvesting water for food security and promoting biodiversity. Phillip tells his inspiring story of organizing community around water in the face of adversity and government corruption.  

Ethan Hirsch-Tauber, founder of the The Water Folk, lives and works in Sonoma County, California. He shares his journey of visiting communities from around the world and witnessing the transformation of healing watersheds through water retention and climate adaptive techniques and bringing these techniques back to his local community.

About Ethan Hirsch-Tauber

Before founding The Water Folk, Ethan Hirsch-Tauber spent many years living in a range of communities around the world, working as a sustainability educator, and gaining a deep understanding of the connections between water and climate. He studied the Water Retention Landscapes of Tamera, Portugal, and later traveled with and was mentored by Waterman of India, Dr. Rajendra Singh. In 2018, he founded a US-based company, Worldwide Water Wizards, to start doing this climate-based watershed restoration work himself. Ethan is now passionately piloting The Water Folk to implement water catchment projects in Sonoma County and beyond.

About Philip Munyasia

Philip Odhiambo Munyasia, the founder of OTEPIC, grew up in Mitume in Kenya. He taught people in his neighborhood how to grow their own food and improve their situation. Eager to learn more, he did an internship on the permaculture farm “Ecology Action” in California. Later, he took part in the “Global Campus” training program in Tamera, Portugal where he became familiar with Sepp Holzer's permaculture. In 2008, he founded OTEPIC (Organic Technology Extension and Promotion of Initiative Centre) teaching subsistence farmers, women and youth groups in the “Trans-Nzoia County” in Western Kenya and its surrounding areas to use permaculture as an alternative way to gain food security and to conserve nature and biodiversity.

Hosted by: Kate Bunney

Produced & Edited by: Anne Carol Mitchell

Intro music by: Mamuse 'River Run Free' - featuring Walter Strauss

If you feel inspired by Talking Water please consider a donation - our work relies on the community. You can donate here. https://walking-water.org/donate/

For more info go to Walking Water website. https://walking-water.org/

Hosted by: Kate Bunney

Produced & Edited by: Jay Lamars

Intro music by: Mamuse 'River Run Free' - featuring Walter Strauss

If you feel inspired by Talking Water please consider a donation - our work relies on the community. You can donate here. https://walking-water.org/donate/

For more info go to Walking Water website. https://walking-water.org/

“I saw when all the relationships in and along the river were healthy and in balance, the emergent property is drinkability for everyone, health for everyone, and beauty for us to admire and be immersed in.” –Li An Phoa 

We welcome Li An Phoa for a powerful conversation on following the call of water as a teacher and centering water for the health of our communities and world. Phoa, the author of Drinkable Rivers: How the River Became My Teacher, shares a poignant story of the first time she drank from the wild and healthy Rupert River in the Canadian subarctic. This “sip” was a catalyst for transforming her life. She realized through her relationship with this river, which later became polluted, that drinkable rivers are an indicator of a healthy society, benefiting human and more-than-human communities.  

Li An shares her work with the organization Drinkable Rivers in service of river health, organizing river walks around the world and mobilizing people to act for the healing and well-being of watersheds. 

About Li An Phoa

Li An Phoa works towards a world with drinkable rivers and founded the charity Drinkable Rivers to raise awareness and to weave this with mobilising people for action. She organises river walks, citizen science and action communities, like Mayors for Drinkable Rivers. Li An walked over 18,500km for drinkable rivers and a documentary film has been made of her 1.000-kilometre walk along the Meuse River. The book Drinkable Rivers: How the River Became My Teacher was published in English in September 2023. Most recently, Li An completed the Thames walk, a 4-week journey from the source in the Cotswolds to the mouth in the North Sea and the walk along the Berkel, a Rhine/IJssel tributary. www.drinkablerivers.org

Hosted by: Kate Bunney

Produced & Edited by: Anne Carol Mitchell

Intro music by: Mamuse 'River Run Free' - featuring Walter Strauss

Hosted by: Kate Bunney

Produced & Edited by: Jay Lamars

Intro music by: Mamuse 'River Run Free' - featuring Walter Strauss

If you feel inspired by Talking Water please consider a donation - our work relies on the community. You can donate here. https://walking-water.org/donate/

For more info go to Walking Water website. https://walking-water.org/