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In this conversation, Dr. Todd Votteler, Principal of Collaborative Water Resolution and Editor-in-Chief of Texas+Water and the Texas Water Journal, discusses the National Water Availability Assessment project, with Dr. Ted Stets, a Research Ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), who is leading the assessment. The assessment project is tasked with producing a comprehensive, integrated assessment of the nation’s water availability.

The first National Water Assessment was published in January 2025; a supplement will be published at the end of 2026, and updates to the report are scheduled every five years thereafter.

Stets received a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 2007, working on carbon and nutrient cycling in surface waters. His work at the USGS has focused on catchment hydrology and elemental cycling, as well as on the former National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA), which officially ended in 2018 after a 30-year run. Ted lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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Also, just a note that Talk+Water has been ranked as one of the top water podcasts in the world by FeedSpot and MillionPodcasts!

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In this conversation, Dr. Todd Votteler, Principal of Collaborative Water Resolution and Editor-in-Chief of Texas+Water and the Texas Water Journal, discusses how investors and companies are confronting water-related financial risks with Kristen James, Senior Water Program Director at Ceres.

Kirsten directs Ceres' strategy supporting investors and companies in addressing challenges facing our freshwater systems. Her work includes leading the Valuing Water Finance Initiative, a global effort to support investors working with companies to reduce financial risks stemming from water scarcity, pollution, and damage to freshwater ecosystems.

Previously, Kirsten served for five years as the director of California policy and partnerships at Ceres, where she led strategy development for Ceres’s California-focused policy work, engaging companies and investors in support of public policies that call for sustainable water management, clean energy, and greenhouse gas emissions reductions in California.

Prior to Ceres, Kirsten worked for a water resource-focused NGO as its Science and Policy Director. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and a master’s degree in environmental science and management from the Bren School at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Take a deep dive into the world of water with those making waves!

Also, just a note that Talk+Water has been ranked as one of the top water podcasts in the world by FeedSpot and MillionPodcasts!

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In this conversation recorded on February 6, 2025, Brian Richter, President of Sustainable Waters, trades places with Talk+Water host, Dr. Todd H. Votteler, to interview him about "Water Markets for Texas." In 2025, Texas 2036 published "Water Markets for Texas" a major multi-year report analyzing how voluntary, well-structured water markets have operated in two regions of the state and what lessons they offer for any Texas communities preparing for its long-term water needs.

The report, authored by Votteler with contributions from Gabriel Collins, J.D., and Dr. Matthew Berg, draws on five decades of hydrologic data, regulatory analysis and interviews with Texas water managers, groundwater leaders, and Western water experts to understand the conditions that enable regional markets to function and why those conditions exist in only a few parts of Texas today. The report goes beyond Texas with lessons for establishing of new water markets that are applicable in other states.

Votteler is a former federal special master and river authority executive with expertise in conflict resolution, stakeholder engagement, and policy development. Votteler is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Texas Water Journal and Texas+Water, and the host of the Talk+Water podcast. He is a Fellow of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University, a Visiting Scholar at The Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin, and a Board Member for the Whitefish Lake Institute.

Brian Richter has been a global leader in water science and conservation for more than 30 years. He is the President of Sustainable Waters, a global organization focused on water scarcity challenges, where he promotes sustainable water use and management with governments, corporations, universities, and local communities. He previously served as Director of the Global Water Program of The Nature Conservancy, an international conservation organization. Brian has consulted on more than 170 water projects worldwide. He serves as a water advisor to some of the world’s largest corporations, investment banks, and the United Nations, and has testified before the U.S. Congress on multiple occasions. He teaches Water Sustainability at the University of Virginia.

Take a deep dive into the world of water with those making waves!

Also, just a note that Talk+Water has been ranked as one of the top water podcasts in the world by FeedSpot and MillionPodcasts!