How we can restore our water cycles. A look at rain, groundwater, the small water cycle, how we can hydrate our landscapes.

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/9/9/3/acf84cca-adff-4b7a-ab5b-8766ed443404_simonmustoeedited.mp3

For more info see https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/animals-regulate-water-land-and-climate

Animals regulate land, water and climate : ecologist and wildlife consultant Simon Mustoe

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/3/24/14/0c540321-ff44-4b87-8cb0-59fe51f1397d_zachweissedit.mp3

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

Activating a global network of water restorers and advocates : Zach Weiss

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/3/6/23/49b6b7eb-b1a2-43ef-89c2-1a6a2c8942dc_derekgaoedit.mp3

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

Rewilding, beavers, and water restoration :Derek Gow

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/2/2/2/904e2a6a-e2cc-4eac-a55f-cb7a6a6adb2e_stephaudioedittitle.mp3

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

Insurance and supply chains-the secret levers to restore water : Stephanie Betts

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/1/18/2/0bba48a4-7c29-4c4b-bf16-ed9dc111ca57_patkeysaudioedit2.mp3

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.

Precipitationsheds and the socio-economics of rain: Patrick Keys

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/11/14/20/c9a077cf-5563-4658-90cc-26ccf6ea85d9_johncherryeditinterview.mp3

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 big groundwater crisis - food, water, pollution, and social unrest : John Cherry

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/10/12/20/13c29b32-7537-4b8a-9255-8dd43231bbfa_lanwanaudiotitle.mp3

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 <a href="https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/planetary-tipping-points-of-green" rel="nofollow">https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/planetary-tipping-points-of-green</a>

The planetary boundaries of green water : Lan Wang-Erlandsson

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/8/24/8/296e41b5-9c71-4349-a53f-86eb9a1826ed_douglassheilaudioeditintro.mp3

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 <a href="https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/the-forest-water-connection-ecologist" rel="nofollow">https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/the-forest-water-connection-ecologist</a>. You can help support this podcast by becoming a subscriber of the <a href="https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/" rel="nofollow">Climate Water Project newsletter</a>.

The Forest-Water Connection : ecologist Douglas Sheil

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/8/2/5/eeef587d-023c-46a0-9f47-5bae8fd208eb_vanderenteditedaudiotitle.mp3

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 <a href="https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/making-the-map-of-the-small-water" rel="nofollow">https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/making-the-map-of-the-small-water</a>

Making the map of the small water cycle : Ruud van der Ent

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/6/19/17/5264cdb4-1d4e-4b59-879d-0c2ec37850a0_ourblueworldedit2.mp3

A wonderful new documentary, <a href="https://www.braveblue.world" rel="nofollow">Our Blue World</a>, 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 <a href="https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/our-blue-world-documentary-paul-ocallaghan" rel="nofollow">https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/our-blue-world-documentary-paul-ocallaghan</a>

'Our Blue World' documentary : Paul O'Callaghan

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/5/13/17/be310e5e-7bd7-4418-a19f-e288dce66fe7_lauranormanedit.mp3

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

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

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/4/12/14/ded605c3-bd07-4637-925f-a93359425746_stuartandrewsedit.mp3

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 <a href="https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/natural-sequence-farming-stuart-andrews" rel="nofollow">https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/natural-sequence-farming-stuart-andrews</a>You can support this podcast by becoming a paid subscriber of Climate Water Project newsletter.

Natural Sequence Farming : Stuart Andrews

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/3/30/21/e618ecb2-a3fa-495d-8f15-0a784d19d6e2_charlotteqinedit.mp3

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.

The Art of Water : Charlotte Qin

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/2/28/4/f0494314-4a63-4add-b7be-035de1606dd5_siegerburgeredit.mp3

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

Plants drink water from the air: hydrologist Sieger Burger interview

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/1/21/6/77187e4e-2fc4-486e-a707-a2fa5662a0f9_didiedit.mp3

Rehydrating Los Angeles and its surrounding areas can help lessen fires. For more see <a href="http://climatewaterproject.substack.com" rel="nofollow">climatewaterproject.substack.com</a>

The Water Solution - A plan to lessen LA & California fires : with Didi Pershouse

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/1/10/22/0ef9f746-c078-4f0d-90b8-4533c8e26927_ferwedaedit2.mp3

A participatory approach to restore bioregions. <a href="http://Commonland.com" rel="nofollow">Commonland</a> 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 <a href="https://climatewaterproject.substack.com" rel="nofollow">Climate Water Project</a>Commonland (2024) The 4 Returns Framework in Practice: A guidebook for holistic landscape restoration <a href="https://4returns.commonland.com/lesson/introduction/" rel="nofollow">https://4returns.commonland.com/lesson/introduction/</a> El marco de los 4 retornos en la práctica: Guía para la restauración holística del paisaje&#34; <a href="https://4returns.commonland.com/es/lesson/about-the-4-returns-guidebook/" rel="nofollow">https://4returns.commonland.com/es/lesson/about-the-4-returns-guidebook/ </a>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. <a href="https://www.commonland.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/4-Returns-for-Landscape-Restoration-June-2021-UN-Decade-on-Ecosystem-Restoration.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www.commonland.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/4-Returns-for-Landscape-Restoration-June-2021-UN-Decade-on-Ecosystem-Restoration.pdf </a>Using regenerative agriculture to restore the Spanish Altiplano landscape (2022) ETH Zurich <a href="https://crowtherlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Restor_Case_Study_Case-18_Spain_Hi-Rez.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://crowtherlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Restor_Case_Study_Case-18_Spain_Hi-Rez.pdf</a> The Spanish Altiplano Landscape Restoration (visual) <a href="https://local-heroes-alvelal.webflow.io/" rel="nofollow">https://local-heroes-alvelal.webflow.io/</a>

How can we restore bioregions? Willem Ferwerda

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2024/11/5/19/2353aee4-96bf-4899-9b4c-3c2902a6eaba_nealspackmanedit.mp3

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. <a href="https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/absorbing-rains-to-bring-landscapes" rel="nofollow">https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/absorbing-rains-to-bring-landscapes</a>

Absorbing rains to bring landscapes back to life : Neal Spackman

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2024/10/22/0/64825a4e-e331-4831-904e-416a19c7e178_silviaquarta5edited.mp3

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

Regenerating a farm and a semi-arid region : Silvia Quarta

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2024/10/14/21/499e7c47-1e11-4588-9fff-94197cc406f5_anna_pollck_intervieweditv4.mp3

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/

Regenerative tourism and regenerative water: Anna Pollock

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2024/6/27/0/2fc0ff1c-f924-4927-9e0f-c641dafea85c_nicksteinerintroaddv2.mp3

Nick Steiner is a water management consultant at <a href="https://www.permanick.com/" rel="nofollow">PermaNick</a> , and works at <a href="https://www.waterstories.com/?via=alpha" rel="nofollow">Water Stories</a>, which trains people in the ways of water management. For the essay on this podcast see <a href="https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/the-joy-of-restoring-water-cycles" rel="nofollow">Climate Water Project </a>

The Joy of Restoring Water Cycles : Nick Steiner

How we can restore our water cycles. A look at rain, groundwater, the small water cycle, how we can hydrate our landscapes.