On this episode of Water Buffs, we examine how drought can harm human health, specifically how dramatic flucutations in water availability can lead to increasingly toxic water supplies.

Dr. James is an award-winning epidemiologist and engineer specializing in environmental and climate risk factors and their connection to health in vulnerable populations. She is an associate professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, one of three institutions that make up the Colorado School of Public Health. Dr. James recently spoke to journalist Melissa Bailey for a Water Desk-supported article, “Once 'paradise,' parched Colorado valley grapples with arsenic in water.” The article, originally published by KFF Health News, centered around Dr. James' community-based research projects that investigate exposure to heavy metals, in particular a rise in carcinogenic arsenic in drinking water in Colorado's drought-stricken San Luis Valley.

Brad Lancaster, author and expert on water harvesting, talks to Water Desk Director Mitch Tobin about how individuals and communities can make the most of rainfall and greywater to stretch local supplies. 

Brad Lancaster is the subject of a new documentary, Water Harvester: An Invitation to Abundance, that was produced by David Fenster, a journalist at Arizona Public Media and Water Desk grantee.

Take a deep dive into water news, check out the Water Desk’s FREE multimedia library, and find more Water Buffs Podcast content at https://waterdesk.org/

The Green River is the most significant tributary of the Colorado River. Journalist Heather Hansman floated the Green in a pack raft to explore water issues in the American West and then wrote a fascinating book about her journey. We also talk to Heather about her reporting on water issues on the Navajo Nation.

Take a deep dive into water news, check out the Water Desk’s FREE multimedia library, and find more Water Buffs Podcast content at https://waterdesk.org/

About one-third of Navajo Nation residents lack running water in their homes and water pollution remains a serious issue in the region. We talk to Kaitlin Harris of DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project about solutions to these pressing problems.

Water Desk Director Mitch Tobin talks to Noah Molotch, Director of the Center for Water Earth Science & Technology (CWEST) at the University of Colorado Boulder, about the importance of snow to our water supply and what the future may hold for the American West’s snowpack.

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Water Desk Director Mitch Tobin talks to Fay Hartman, Conservation Director of the Colorado River Basin Program at American Rivers, about a new American Rivers report that examines the economic value of rivers and our nation’s crumbling water infrastructure. The report calls for Congress to invest $500 billion over 10 years on water infrastructure and river restoration.

We delve into water news with Heather Sackett, managing editor at Aspen Journalism, which is covering a variety of issues in Colorado. Topics include an investigative series that explores how investors are banking on the West’s water scarcity, a proposed new reservoir that would export water from the Western Slope to the Front Range, and whether cloud seeding can actually increase snowfall.