Recorded on: Jun 11, 2025
Description
Water has always been a fundamental force shaping our planet – both in sustaining life across ecosystems and in guiding the organization and survival of human societies. Yet, many of us are unaware of how intertwined our lives are with the water cycle, much less of the ways we deplete and degrade the water resources that we and other living creatures rely upon for our very existence. What might change if we had a deeper understanding of global and regional hydrological cycles?
On this Reality Roundtable, Nate is joined by Heather Cooley, Zach Weiss, and Mike Joy to discuss the importance of water and hydrology and the complex ways they impact our planet. Together, they unpack how we are disrupting global water systems through global heating and pollution, resulting in increases in droughts and flooding across the globe. Additionally, each expert offers their perspective on the action required to heal our water systems – including ecosystem restoration, regional watershed planning, and national policies to reduce industrial and agricultural pollution.
If we continue with our same patterns of agriculture, industrial production, and consumption, what will the availability of clean and affordable water be like just decades from now? Are we already beginning to see the signs of destabilized hydrological cycles in our planetary system? And could fostering a better relationship and understanding of the water cycle lead to a broader recognition of our interdependence with all systems that support rich, complex life on Earth?
About Heather Cooley
Heather Cooley is the Director of the Pacific Institute’s Water Program. She conducts and oversees research on an array of water issues, such as the connections between water and energy, sustainable water use and management, and the hydrologic impacts of climate change.
About Mike Joy
Mike Joy is a leading freshwater ecologist and an advocate for the conservation of our waterways. He has been working for two decades at the interface of science and policy with a goal of addressing agriculture’s polluting impacts on New Zealand’s waterways.
About Zach Weiss
Zachary Weiss is the founder of Elemental Ecosystems, an ecological development company specializing in watershed restoration and ecosystem regeneration, and has worked in over 25 countries across 6 continents. After 10 years, Zach also founded Water Stories as a way to train others in the same work through his watershed restoration expertise.
Show Notes & Links to Learn More
00:00 –
- Heather Cooley, Pacific Institute, Works
- Mike Joy, Works
- Zachary Weiss, Elemental Ecosystems, Water Stories
02:05 – Increasing droughts and floods year by year
02:09 – Decline in availability of potable water
04:00 – Water cycle restoration
06:50 – Flooding and drought interconnected cycles
07:40 – Haber-Bosch process
08:00 – Dead zones, Hypoxia
08:15 – New Zealand eutrophication: Nitrate-contaminated drinking water
09:00 – Colorectal cancer rates in New Zealand, River nitrate levels in New Zealand
09:25 – U.S. nitrate levels and cancer occurrence research
10:20 – Algal blooms, Effects on water oxygenation and fish
12:35 – The Full Water Cycle, Small and Large Water Cycle, Acceleration of the water cycle
13:40 – Snowpack changes
14:11 – Effects of sea-level rise on rivers and coastal aquifers
14:35 – Ocean warming, Power Plant Cooling and Associated Impacts
15:20 – Rising global temperature and Rising water demand
15:50 – Wildfires damaging water systems
16:26 – Dr. Millán Millán: “The Second Leg of Climate Change”
16:35 – Water as a major planetary heat regulator, Water runoff statistics, Water’s influence on temperature, Thermodynamics of Water, TWh of heat dissipation based on water loss (pg 28)
18:07 – Relationship between landuse change and water yield
18:19 – Global loss of wetlands
19:20 – Wetlands and water management
20:10 – New Zealand 90% loss of wetlands, Intensive farming replacing them, Biodiversity of wetlands
21:10 – Feedback loops
21:30 – Some areas (like here and here) have decoupled water demand from population/economic growth
21:40 – Freshwater Scarcity: A detailed report of concepts, evaluation techniques, and responses
22:00 – Population growth, Economic growth, Meat production growth, Consumption increasing
22:15 – Water Use Trends in the United States (Pacific Institute Report)
25:07 – Water scarcity today, Grassroots movements and water management
26:09 – 11,000 liters of water to produce one liter of milk
26:28 – Green, Blue, and Grey water, More definitions
27:40 – New Zealand is the biggest exporter of milk powder
31:00 – Decentralized water retention, Harms of dredging (demo) and levees
32:25 – Microbial ecology of the atmosphere, Trees are virtual nurseries for these microorganisms which contribute to cloud formation and rainfall
32:35 – Biotic Pump, Video demonstration
33:40 – “Sponge Cities”
33:40 – Closed loop system
35:45 – New Zealand government repealing environmental legislation, Climate Change is not prioritized by the current U.S. administration
37:10 – Nearly half of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture
38:05 – U.S. polls say water is a top, bipartisan concern, Additional Poll
39:20 – Fossil Aquifers, Fossil aquifer identification
39:45 – Groundwater decrease, Subsidence – California aquifers and Ogalala aquifer
41:15 – Unconfined Aquifers
41:20 – Relationship between surface water and groundwater
42:35 – Grid-governance, Watershed governance
42:55 – Governor John Kitzhaber (TGS Episode)
43:20 – New Zealand territorial authorities based on catchment boundaries
44:00 – Resource Management Act 1991
44:30 – The 4 Responsibilities of New Zealand Local Government
44:45 – Consistently noncompliant NZ wastewater plant, New Zealand’s “penalty” for noncompliance
44:55 – New Zealand polluted water discharges into waterways
46:05 – Water Councils, Water Court in Spain (mentioned in this TGS Episode)
46:30 – Effects of heat domes, Rehydrate California
47:35 – Water’s role in global migration
50:30 – U.S. laws against household water catchment
51:25 – Water governance in India
51:50 – Roadblocks to water security at the U.S. Federal level (underinvestment)
55:00 – Ngāi Tahu takes the Crown to court in New Zealand to take over freshwater management
57:10 – Industrial animal agriculture is a leading cause of water contamination, Countries with the most cattle per capita
59:50 – Personal ways to “slow down” water. Additional resource
1:02:45 – Success stories of water restoration, U.S. EPA success stories
1:03:45 – Origin of lawns, Lawn alternatives, Video demo
1:08:10 – Fast-track Approvals Act in New Zealand, Additional information
1:10:00 – Spring water restoration and creation
1:11:30 – Water-sensitive urban design