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Texas+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.

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Texas+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.

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Texas 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 assessment for the MIT Report on the Future of Geothermal Energy.Joseph Batir is an exploration geoscientist for Petrolern. He has exploration experience in the Gulf Coast, East Texas and South Texas, Permian Basin, Alaska (Cook Inlet and Interior), British Columbia, offshore West Africa, Illinois Basin, Michigan Basin, Snake River Plain, and the Hellisheidi geothermal field in Iceland. His research has resulted in new insights and prospect generation within existing and emerging plays.

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Texas 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 Texas 2036, his legislative career began in the late 20th century as a policy analyst with the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission. From there, he served as a Chief of Staff for Texas State Representative Bill Callegari and as Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director for Texas State Senator Van Taylor.  He also served as Director of Governmental Relations for two state agencies essential to Texas’ future: the Texas Water Development Board and, more recently, the Railroad Commission, Texas’ leading oil and gas, pipeline safety, and surface mining regulator.

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Texas+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 Representatives and the Texas Senate, where he worked on a wide range of problems affecting Texans in areas including water issues. Hegar is a 1993 graduate of Texas A&M University and a graduate of St. Mary's University, where he earned a Master of Arts and his law degree. At the University of Arkansas, he earned his Master of Law. He is a sixth-generation Texan who grew up farming land that has been in his family since the mid-1800s.

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Texas+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 sustainable practices throughout California’s vineyards and wineries. He was Chairman of the Board from 2016-2018.

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Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Sarah Stogner, founder of Stogner Legal, about groundwater contamination issues in the oil and gas industry.Stogner is not just another lawyer. She forced Railroad Commission incumbent Wayne Christian into a runoff, winning over 300,000 Republican primary votes. She splits her time between the Permian Basin and Houston, representing operators, service companies, and landowners navigating the quagmire of oil and gas risk allocation issues. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a B.S. in International Trade and Finance in 2005 and a law degree in 2008.

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Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Dr. Michael Hanemann about the economics of water markets and water transfers. Dr. Hanemann is the Chancellor's Professor and Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics at the University of California Berkeley, and also serves as a Distinguished Sustainability Scientist and the Julie A. Wrigley Chair in Sustainability at Arizona State University. He is also the Director of the Center of Environmental Economics and Sustainability Policy at Arizona State University. Hanemann is an environmental economist who works in the areas of water economics and policy, climate change, and non-market valuation.

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Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Dr. Andrew Sansom, Founder of The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University, about using water markets as a tool to protect environmental flows in Texas. Dr. Andrew Sansom is one of Texas’ leading conservationists. He is the Founder of The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University. He is a former Executive Director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Executive Director of the Texas Nature Conservancy. For his commitment to the management and protection of natural resources, he is a recipient of the Chevron Conservation Award, The Chuck Yeager Award from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, The Pugsley Medal from the National Park Foundation, the Seton Award from the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Nature Conservancy. Dr. Sansom is a Distinguished Alumnus of Austin College and Texas Tech University.

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Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Dr. John Sabo, a Professor in the Department of Coastal & River Science and Engineering in the School of Science and Engineering at Tulane University and Director of the ByWater Institute. In the academic realm, Sabo directs Tulane’s ByWater Institute, a research institute dedicated to creating transdisciplinary and transformative research that advances the resilience of water resources in New Orleans, the Mississippi River Basin, and tropical river basins in the developing world where lessons from home are relevant.By training, Sabo is a river food web ecologist and has designed and implemented large-scale field experiments to understand the role of aquatic-terrestrial energy flow on terrestrial food web dynamics as well as the dynamic effects of groundwater on surface water food webs. His work in this realm is driven by a desire to understand how to better manage basin-scale flows in rivers ranging from the Colorado in Arizona’s Grand Canyon, the Mekong River in Southeast Asia, and the Amazon River in South America.

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