Climate Water Project

Activating a global network of water restorers and advocates : Zach Weiss 24.03.2026 1j 12mnt

Zach Weiss launched an education and community platform Water Stories which trains people to restore water cycles via earthworks, soil restoration, and ecosystem restoration. Central is the idea of retention ponds and terraces which help slow water and help it seep into the aqufers below so the ecosystem has year round access to water. The education trains students to learn the art, find and take on clients. It also trains people to advocate for water cycle restoration. For more see https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/activating-a-global-network-of-water

Rewilding, beavers, and water restoration :Derek Gow 06.03.2026 53mnt

https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/rewilding-beavers-and-water-restoration

Insurance and supply chains-the secret levers to restore water : Stephanie Betts 02.02.2026 1j 15mnt

To restore water, shift to regenerative ag: to shift the world to regenerative ag, redo global supply chains https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/supply-chains-and-insurance-the-secret

Precipitationsheds and the socio-economics of rain: Patrick Keys 18.01.2026 1j 13mnt

Patrick Keys, a professor at Boston University, studies the sources and sinks of rain in the moisture recycling process (aka small water cycle). He looks at how they are embedded in socio-economic systems.

The big groundwater crisis - food, water, pollution, and social unrest : John Cherry 14.11.2025 1j 50mnt

John Cherry won the Stockholm Water Prize, known as the ‘Nobel’ of water, which is awarded in conjunction with the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the same institution behind the Nobel Prize itself. He wrote the seminal Groundwater textbook that shaped our modern understanding of groundwater hydrology. He pioneered the field of groundwater contamination.

The planetary boundaries of green water : Lan Wang-Erlandsson 12.10.2025 51mnt

Lan Wang-Erlandsson is a researcher studying moisture recycling aka small water cycle. She focuses on the large-scale interactions between land, water, and climate, and their implications for social-ecological and Earth system resilience. She has conducted work on the planetary boundaries of green water, helped society understand moisture recycling as an ecosystem service, and collaborated with the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) on reports examining how moisture recycling intersects with the future of agriculture.For more info https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/planetary-tipping-points-of-green

The Forest-Water Connection : ecologist Douglas Sheil 24.08.2025 58mnt

Douglas Sheil is an ecologist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. He has worked on questions of how forests affect watersheds, how to restore and conserve forests, and also helped clarify explanations of the Biotic Pump. For more info https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/the-forest-water-connection-ecologist. You can help support this podcast by becoming a subscriber of the Climate Water Project newsletter.

Making the map of the small water cycle : Ruud van der Ent 02.08.2025 1j 14mnt

Dr. van der Ent is a hydrologist who made a global map of the small water cycle, showing what percentage of the evapotranspiration turns back into rainfall on the same continent. For written article https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/making-the-map-of-the-small-water

'Our Blue World' documentary : Paul O'Callaghan 19.06.2025 1j 8mnt

A wonderful new documentary, Our Blue World, is out, and it offers a panoramic exploration of how communities across the globe are learning to live in greater harmony with water. The film highlights a wide range of innovative and traditional practices—from China’s sponge city initiative, to New Zealand’s recognition of the Whanganui River as a legal person, to the ancient Peruvian techniques for guiding water into mountains so it reemerges as springs. It also delves into the Biosphere 2 project, where twelve people lived in a sealed dome for two years and had to rely on constructed wetlands to purify their water. The documentary further explores the shift along the Mississippi River from a levee-centered approach to one that embraces wetland restoration, as well as efforts to restore Ireland’s bogs—offering a hopeful vision of how we can reimagine our relationship with water. The film is produced by Paul O’Callaghan, directed by Ruan Magan, and narrated by Liam Neeson (the action movie actor) in his voice that oozes gravitas. For more see https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/our-blue-world-documentary-paul-ocallaghan

Putting rocks into rivers to lessen drought-fire-flood : Laura Norman, physical scientist 13.05.2025 1j

Laura Norman is a physical scientist with the USGS. Doing hydrological modelling of slow water. https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/putting-rocks-in-rivers-to-lessen

Natural Sequence Farming : Stuart Andrews 12.04.2025 1j 31mnt

The five principles of Natural Sequence Farming (NSF) are:1) Slow the Flow: Emphasizing the importance of slowing down water flow to allow infiltration into the soil.2) Let All Plants Grow: Promoting plant diversity and allowing natural regeneration of the landscape.3) Careful Where the Animals Go: Integrating livestock management with the natural sequence of the landscape.4) Filtration is a Must Know: Understanding the role of natural filtration systems in purifying water.5) Return to the Top to Recycle the Lot: Recycling nutrients and resources by returning waste products to the top of the soil.For more info https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/natural-sequence-farming-stuart-andrewsYou can support this podcast by becoming a paid subscriber of Climate Water Project newsletter.

The Art of Water : Charlotte Qin 30.03.2025 1j 34mnt

Charlotte Qin in an artist of water. She paints the fluid flow of water in its different forms, and she does reciprocal performances about water, where she interacts with the audience, as they connect with the water. For more info https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/the-art-of-water-charlotte-qin . You can support this work by becoming a paid subscriber of the Climate Water Project newsletter.

Plants drink water from the air: hydrologist Sieger Burger interview 28.02.2025 1j 23mnt

In this interview, we talk about a wide range of topics in hydrology, including how plants drink water from the air in a process called foliar water uptake. Article is at https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/plants-drink-water-from-the-air-hydrologist

The Water Solution - A plan to lessen LA & California fires : with Didi Pershouse 21.01.2025 1j 34mnt

Rehydrating Los Angeles and its surrounding areas can help lessen fires. For more see climatewaterproject.substack.com

How can we restore bioregions? Willem Ferwerda 10.01.2025 1j 57mnt

A participatory approach to restore bioregions. Commonland is an organization that helps facilitate multistakeholders to come together to look at how to restore the land, ecosystem, and water. It works to bring farmers, businesses, NGOs, local government, and academics together in a collaborative approach. They work to restore 100000 +hectares in a bioregion. An interview of the Climate Water ProjectCommonland (2024) The 4 Returns Framework in Practice: A guidebook for holistic landscape restoration https://4returns.commonland.com/lesson/introduction/ El marco de los 4 retornos en la práctica: Guía para la restauración holística del paisaje" https://4returns.commonland.com/es/lesson/about-the-4-returns-guidebook/ The 4 Returns Framework for Landscape Restoration. UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration Report published by Commonland, Wetlands International Landscape Finance Lab and IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management. https://www.commonland.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/4-Returns-for-Landscape-Restoration-June-2021-UN-Decade-on-Ecosystem-Restoration.pdf Using regenerative agriculture to restore the Spanish Altiplano landscape (2022) ETH Zurich https://crowtherlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Restor_Case_Study_Case-18_Spain_Hi-Rez.pdf The Spanish Altiplano Landscape Restoration (visual) https://local-heroes-alvelal.webflow.io/

Absorbing rains to bring landscapes back to life : Neal Spackman 05.11.2024 1j 27mnt

Neal Spackman discusses his project that restored desert lands in Saudi Arabia, his work with the Great Green Wall of Africa, and eco and water restoration ideas for Spain. https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/absorbing-rains-to-bring-landscapes

Regenerating a farm and a semi-arid region : Silvia Quarta 21.10.2024 54mnt

La Junquera is a farm on a windswept plateau in southeastern Spain. www.lajunquera.com/ . Its part of a collective of farms and businesses called Alvelal that is working to regenerate the region. https://alvelal.es/. For more info and transcript https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/regenerating-a-farm-and-a-semi-arid

Regenerative tourism and regenerative water: Anna Pollock 14.10.2024 1j 18mnt

Anna Pollock has played a significant role in launching the regenerative tourism movement. For more info see https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/how-eco-tourism-can-help-the-regenerative and http://www.conscious.travel/

The Joy of Restoring Water Cycles : Nick Steiner 27.06.2024 1j 19mnt

Nick Steiner is a water management consultant at PermaNick , and works at Water Stories, which trains people in the ways of water management. For the essay on this podcast see Climate Water Project

Investing in water and regenerative agriculture : Koen van Seijen 07.05.2024 1j 36mnt

Koen van Seijen is the host of the "Investing in regenerative agriculture and food" podcast, and also manager at Toniic, an impact investment organization. We discuss various ways of funding the regenerative agriculture as well as the regenerative water movement. for interview also see the Climate Water Project Newsletter . The "Investing in regenerative agriculture and food" podcast page is here . You can support this podcast by subscribing to the Climate Water Project newsletter, or on Patreon