Water policy, science, and finance in practice.
Talk+Water brings practitioners into long-form conversations about how water systems are managed, financed, studied, and protected. Recent episodes move from investor pressure on corporate water risk to Texas water markets, climate resilience accelerators, and applied hydrology.
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Talk+Water is a professional interview series about the people and institutions shaping water decisions. It is steady, specific, and field-aware. The show’s recent episodes treat freshwater not as a single issue, but as a web of markets, drought, finance, science, ecosystems, public policy, and collaboration. One conversation with Kirsten James centers on Ceres’ work with investors and companies facing water scarcity, pollution, and damage to freshwater ecosystems. The discussion frames shareholder engagement as a practical lever. It also gives time to the Valuing Water Finance Initiative, described as a global investor-led effort pushing companies to prioritize water risk in operations and supply chains. Another episode turns the microphone toward Todd Votler in a conversation led by Brian Richter. That exchange uses Texas water markets to ask a hard practical question: what happens when water rights shift from irrigation toward municipal and industrial demand? The answer is not treated as simple. Farming, reservoirs, drought, regional growth, and the Rio Grande Valley all sit in the same frame. A third recent episode brings in Margo Molloy, Cam Wobus, and Emily Lewis to discuss CK BlueShift and related resilience work. The conversation moves from cross-sector collaboration to catalytic capital for nature-based solutions in the Colorado River Basin. It gets technical without becoming theatrical. Cam Wobus talks about applied science, satellite observations, evapotranspiration, flood risk, water availability, and ecosystem health as tools for answering real resource questions. That combination gives Talk+Water its shape. The show is not built around hot takes or broad environmental messaging. It is built around practitioners explaining how water work actually gets done. The tone is collegial. The questions are patient. The value is in the accumulation of detail: investors, publications, basins, rights, drought conditions, accelerators, and scientific methods all become part of the same working conversation. For listeners who follow water professionally, it offers useful context and named examples. For policy-minded generalists, it shows why water decisions are rarely just technical and rarely just political.
Made for: Talk+Water is for water professionals, environmental policy watchers, infrastructure thinkers, investors, researchers, and civic listeners who want practical detail about freshwater systems. It best suits people comfortable with technical language and long-form professional conversation.
What sets it apart: The show stands out by putting water specialists in sustained, practical conversations about actual institutions, basins, rights, capital, and scientific methods. It connects boardroom risk, river-basin reality, and applied science without flattening the tradeoffs.
Talk+Water takes a deep dive into the world of water with those making waves. Every month Todd H. Votteler, Ph.D. interviews special guests making unique contributions in the water profession. Talk+Water has been rated one of the top water podcasts in the world in multiple water podcast reviews! Check out the latest ratings from Feedspot! If you are enjoying Talk+Water please subscribe and leave us a review.
Purple pipes at a jail give you a water debate with actual plumbing.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Kirsten James explains how investor pressure can push companies to take water risk seriously.
Water risk comes into focus through the financial pressure investors can bring to companies facing scarcity, pollution, and damage to freshwater ecosystems.
A grounded Rio Grande Valley case gives Texas water-market debates real stakes for farms, cities, and drought planning.
Texas water markets get a clear, grounded airing as Brian Richter and Todd Votler work through the tension at the center of the issue: farmers worry that cities could buy up the water rights agriculture depends on.
A grounded look at how water science and collaborative funding can meet in the Colorado River Basin.
Water resilience comes through as both a measurement challenge and a coordination challenge. Margo Molloy frames CK BlueShift's 2026 Resilience Accelerator around catalytic capital for nature-based solutions in the Colorado River Basin, with an emphasis on getting organizations…
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Steven Novella and a rotating panel dissect weekly science news and debunk pseudoscience claims.
APA's Kim Mills interviews psychology researchers on tipping, crying, and extremism.
Kirsten James says Ceres' Valuing Water Finance Initiative now has more than 100 investors supporting 71 companies across apparel, beverage, food, and high tech.
Talk Plus Water #102 centers on Brian Richter and Todd Votler discussing Todd's report on water markets in Texas, sponsored by Texas 2036.
Talk Plus Water #103 centers on CK BlueShift, Blue Commons, and the 2026 Resilience Accelerator around Colorado River Basin water work.
Tony Willardson explains how Wade maps 2.5 million Western water rights across 18 states.
Travis County Commissioner Bridget Shea connects Austin's water future to Barton Springs protection, purple-pipe reuse, and climate-driven scarcity.