On this episode of What About Water? we’re learning from traditional knowledge.   Jay sits down with Tasha Beeds, a grassroots Indigenous academic and Water Walker.   She takes us through the origins of Water Walking - an Indigenous ceremony recognizing and connecting with water. Beeds enters into ceremony for the water - discussing what it means to raise consciousness about water as a living entity.   On the Last Word, we hear from Josée Street, a young Indigenous woman who shows how...

On this episode of What About Water? we take a look at the state of our rising seas from space, and learn what coastal communities on the ground are doing to adapt. Jay speaks with long-time colleague Dr. Steve Nerem, a principal investigator on NASA’s Sea Level Change team.   We learn that by 2100, we could see around one meter of global sea level rise, but there is still time to stop the worst-case scenarios for future generations. On the Last Word, we hear from Matt Osler about the City...

With climate change threatening freshwater sources, water demand across the globe is likely to increase by 20 - 30% between now and 2050. In this episode, we’re looking at two promising solutions to create clean drinking water from surprising places: our sewers and our oceans. We speak with General Manager of the Orange County Water District, Mike Markus, about debunking the “toilet to tap” fear and how turning our wastewater into clean drinking water can be a closed-loop solution to...

Transboundary waters - the rivers, lakes, and aquifers shared by two or more countries - are found in 153 of the world’s 192 countries. They account for an estimated 60 per cent of global freshwater flow. As a critical component of our survival, water has long been a source of conflict between nations. The stakes are higher with a rapidly increasing population and threats of water scarcity. In this episode, we talk to Aaron Wolf, a trained mediator and facilitator and Professor of Geography...

We’re already reaping the financial repercussions of climate change. Four Twenty Seven projects that by 2040, roughly $78 trillion, equivalent to about 57% of the world’s current GDP, will be exposed to flooding. On this episode of What About Water? we ask the question: can market incentives align with climate priorities? And how do we hold big corporations accountable? We speak with Mindy Lubber, CEO and president of Ceres, a sustainability nonprofit driving climate solutions through a...

For centuries, we have built big dams, reservoirs, and levees. Humans have steered and shaped the flow of water to irrigate deserts, prevent floods and access groundwater. But through big engineering, we’ve also created breaks in the natural flow of freshwater from source to sea. The good news is: we can look back to nature for solutions.  In this episode we speak with Sandra Postel, one of the world’s leading freshwater experts, about how solutions rooted in nature - like cover cropping...

It’s no surprise growing food uses lots of water. One cow needs anywhere from 3 to 30 L of water a day. It takes 3200 L of water to grow one pound of lentils. In this episode we ask, what do we do when there's not enough water to feed our food? Here in Canada, 2021 made history as prairie farmers experienced one of the worst droughts Western North America has seen in the last 1200 years. After three years of reduced precipitation, prolonged dry spells change everything from the crops...

In this episode, we visit the city of Iqaluit in Canada’s northern territory of Nunavut, which is battling a water crisis on multiple fronts. This month, residents were alerted not to drink or cook with water due to contamination. But for years, the city’s main water supply - Lake Geraldine - has experienced dropping levels. And overall, climate change is impacting everything from the city’s water supply, to thawing permafrost. Janet Pitsiulaaq Brewster served as Deputy Mayor of Iqaluit,...

On this episode: Katharine Hayhoe’s new book, Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World, is a practical and compassionate guide for talking about climate change across differences. Combining her research with thousands of conversations with everyday people, Hayhoe shows us how shared values can activate ordinary citizens to become climate change champions. Hayhoe joins us for our first episode of the third season to discuss reframing the climate...

Water is one of the main ways we experience the effects of a changing climate. As flooding, drought, and climate extremes grow widespread, the way we use every drop counts. This season, join What About Water with host Jay Famiglietti, as we meet the people adapting to our planet's new water realities, with innovative ideas, strategies, and most importantly -- a sense of hope. Whether it's traditional knowledge or cutting-edge technology, this season is all about the way humans adapt and...

Join our guest host, Professor Graham Strickert, as he hosts a panel of experts to discuss the pitfalls and problems of hydropower dams. Inspired by our screening of the award-winning Patagonia film "DamNation."

Join us as some of Canada's leading water scientists and experts discuss how testing wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 can help us detect emerging community outbreaks. It's a dirty subject that is saving lives.

Climate change has a price. In this bonus episode (recorded on Earth Day) our host Dr. Jay Famiglietti has a live virtual roundtable with three experts, each with a unique perspective on this multifaceted topic.

Valuing water is about much more than price. In this bonus episode (a condensed version of our Let's Talk About Water virtual forum on World Water Day), Jay talks with three individuals each with a unique perspective on valuing water. Featuring Kirsten James (Ceres), Gidon Bromberg (EcoPeace Middle East), and Dr. Karen Kidd (McMaster University).

We've had a great second season on Let's Talk About Water, diving deep into some of the planet's most pressing water concerns. We looked at disadvantaged communities who don't have access to safe drinking water, and at the activists fighting to change that. We talked about how the politics of 2020 impacted water rights. And we confronted the climate crisis, examining the many ways rising sea levels and polluted waters endanger us all. Have a listen to some of our best moments of Season Two.

Mark World Water Day on March 22 by checking out our extended director's cut of "Towards a Greener, Better World with Jeffrey Sachs". Tune in as Dr. Sachs dives deeper into how humanity's 50,000-year-old dependence on conflict and suspicion keep us from enjoying the full benefits of our technological revolution. When we forget about territory or division and focus on innovation and exchange, Dr. Sachs argues, we can accomplish great things – to heal the planet and change the world.

World-renowned economist Dr. Jeffrey Sachs believes humanity can leap forward with science and technology – but only if we drop our primeval addiction to war and conflict. We can create new vaccines in less than a year or measure water below ground using satellites in spaces, but political institutions are still locked in a 50,000-year-old "Us vs. Them" mindset that prevents global cooperation and advancement. With a broader, more inclusive worldview, Dr. Sachs says, we can create a more...

Colorado water lawyer James Eklund and California water policy expert Ellen Hanak talk to Jay about the future of water -- or rather, about water futures. Water futures and securities are increasingly valuable investments. Some may feel anxiety at letting financial markets commodify such a basic human essential, but Eklund and Hanak, whose states have unique systems of water rights, say it's a legitimate resource management tool and way forward for landowners struggling to monetize their assets.

For thousands of years Indigenous North Americans drank some of the world's purest drinking water. Then came colonization and government neglect. First Nations' water quality fell and, with it, their health. But as Jay learns, change is coming thanks to Indigenous Water Protectors, like Deon Hassler, a teacher of water treatment plant operators for the File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council, and helpers, like Bob Patrick, a water expert at the University of Saskatchewan.

In this episode, Jay talks with an old friend about hope: hope for cleaner and safer water in America. Felicia Marcus is an attorney/consultant who has served in government, the non-profit world, and the private sector. She's been a board member on numerous national and international bodies, including one that oversees Canada-U.S. water issues. She is currently the Landreth Visiting Fellow at Stanford University's Woods Institute Water in the West Program.

Dr. Chelsea Rochman, an associate professor at the University of Toronto, says plastic, everyone's favourite cheap and easy resource, comes with a high price. Microscopic pieces of plastic flake off every time we wield a disposable bag, or wash a polyester sweater, or any number of things. They permeate our water, air, soil, bodies, even unborn foetuses. It's a problem that will plague humans for untold generations unless, she says, we take aggressive action to control our plastic addiction.

This week climatologist Micah Hewer and economist Pat Lloyd-Smith tell Jay about the good, the bad, and the ugly effects of global warming on Canada's outdoor recreation sector. On the bad side of the ledger: shorter downhill skiing and skating seasons and slime-covered lakes in the summer. On the good side: longer, better seasons for outdoor pursuits like hunting, bird watching and cross-country skiing. And one of the best of all: better, more widespread winemaking, especially of fine red wine.

Dr. Kelsey Leonard, an associate professor at the University of Waterloo and member of the Shinnecock Nation, discusses how Indigenous views on the personhood of water can save that water. More and more bodies of water around the world are being granted legal personhood status, which gives them the right to be defended from industrial pollution. Dr. Leonard is fighting to make water justice a priority across government and bridge the gap between Indigenous belief and Western law.

This season, host Jay Famiglietti sits down with some of the world's leading experts to once again talk about water and learns why some marginalized communities are denied safe water access, how flooding and droughts may end up forcing billions of climate refugees to flee their homes, which regulations have been gutted and need to be brought back to save us from disaster and more. Join us as we dive into our waters at home and abroad, confront the dangers they face, and learn how to save them.

Dr. Peter Gleick, co-founder and president emeritus of the Pacific Institute, believes Joe Biden could be the man to save American water policy, which has been foundering under Donald Trump. In his co-authored policy brief, Water Recommendations to the Next President, Gleick and his colleagues lay out the biggest issues with US water safety and access, and what President Elect Biden needs to do to guarantee clean water for all Americans and limit the global repercussions of climate change.