The Water Table

Dr.  Emily Fairfax is quantitatively proving the value of the beaver to  watershed restoration in California. Her work is showing that with  beavers on the landscape, we can be more fire, flood, and drought  resilient. Beavers are a keystone species missing from many parts of  their historical range—and their absence is showing—California has lost  95 percent of its pre-colonial wetlands. Fairfax says that while the  reintroduction of beavers back into California watersheds is crucial, we  can and should get started mimicking what beavers do on the land,  slowing, spreading, and sinking water, by using beaver dam analogs and  beaver building principles.

For more information on Emily Fairfax’s work visit: https://emilyfairfaxscience.com/

Episode Host: Pete Deneen

Sound editing and mixing: Ryan Evans

Music: Todd Hannigan

This podcast was made possible with funding and support by creative  collective and producer Watershed Progressive, the Tuolumne County  Resource Conservation District, California Department of Water  Resources, the Wildlife Conservation Board, and the residents of  California who supported Prop 84 and Prop 1

Brad Lancaster’s ideas are practical, radical, and urgently needed. In this episode Brad describes how he began harvesting street runoff at his home  in the Sonoran Desert, where he now harvests 100,000 gallons per year  on just 1/8th of an acre. Brad’s rainwater harvesting methods grew into a citywide  movement toward regenerative hydration practices in his hometown of  Tucson. His easy-to-implement strategies for water resilience are  economical and readily adoptable. With California in hydrological  deficit—and as climate change exacerbates the scarcity wrought by  overallocation—this conversation with Brad contains both essential  inspiration and practical tools you can apply at your home, not only  survive the ongoing drought and reduce your water cost, but to enhance  the quality and abundance of your life.

A link to the original interview and transcript with Brad Lancaster: http://www.watertoolkit.org/?page_id=2670

For more information on Brad Lancaster’s work visit: https://www.harvestingrainwater.com/ and www.NeighborhoodForesters.org

Episode Host: Pete Deneen

Sound editing and mixing: Ryan Evans

Music: Todd Hannigan

Original interview with Brad Lancaster: Charles Upton

This podcast was made possible with funding and support by creative  collective and producer Watershed Progressive, the Tuolumne County  Resource Conservation District, California Department of Water  Resources, and the residents of California who supported Prop 84.

Brock Dolman is a biologist and systems thinker. He is the co-founder of Occidental Arts and Ecology Center—one of the first permaculture education centers in North America. In this episode, Brock colorfully muralizes the concept of regenerative hydration by connecting backyard tools like rainwater, greywater, and fog harvesting, with conceptual tools like water budgets and unorthodox partnerships with keystone species, like the beaver. Brock wants us to think of watersheds as a lifeboat, where we not just slow it, spread it, sink it, but think it, too. This conversation will leave you looking at your space and place differently—and gives you easy-to-implement water and land management solutions for your backyard, business, or organization!

Individual water choices matter.  Martha Davis spent much of the past two decades in a leadership position at the Inland Empire Utilities Agency. She currently serves on the boards of the Mono Lake Committee, the Sierra Institute for Community and Environment, and the Community Water Center. Martha joins us to reflect on the late water conservation legend Tom Ash, a horticulturist who spent three decades in public water and was a leader in believing what you do in your backyard can make a difference. This conversation is a sweet one. 

Episode Host: Pete Deneen

Sound editing and mixing: Ryan Evans

Music: Todd Hannigan

Original interview with Brock Dolman: Charles Upton

Is rainwater harvesting the solution? From the California Governor's Office of Planning and Research, Debbie Franco, the senior advisor for water and rural affairs, shares her personal thoughts on the state’s water inequities and how practices like rainwater harvesting can improve the health of the state’s watersheds. The conversation centers around reflections on an interview with drylands water guru, Brad Lancaster, an expert in the field of rainwater harvesting and water management. Pieces of an interview from Lancaster’s masterclass in ‘planting the rain’ are interwoven throughout an insightful and inspiring conversation on how California can realign its relationship with water. 

A link to the original interview and full transcript with Brad Lancaster: http://www.watertoolkit.org/?page_id=2670

For more information on Brad Lancaster’s work visit: https://www.harvestingrainwater.com/ and https://dunbarspringneighborhoodforesters.org/

Episode Host: Pete Deneen

Sound editing and mixing: Ryan Evans

Music: Todd Hannigan

Original interview with Brad Lancaster: Charles Upton

A solutions-focused conversation for California water resilience. We explore topics like water conservation, hazard mitigation, community water security, and watershed and community health.

The Water Table Podcast is the education and outreach platform for the Land Resilience Partnership, supported by the voters of California (Prop 84), the Department of Water Resources, and the Tuolumne County Resource Conservation District.

Visit our blog at www.watertoolkit.org