On this episode of Water Buffs, we examine how drought can harm human health, specifically how dramatic flucutations in water availability can lead to increasingly toxic water supplies.
Dr. James is an award-winning epidemiologist and engineer specializing in environmental and climate risk factors and their connection to health in vulnerable populations. She is an associate professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, one of three institutions that make up the Colorado School of Public Health. Dr. James recently spoke to journalist Melissa Bailey for a Water Desk-supported article, “Once 'paradise,' parched Colorado valley grapples with arsenic in water.” The article, originally published by KFF Health News, centered around Dr. James' community-based research projects that investigate exposure to heavy metals, in particular a rise in carcinogenic arsenic in drinking water in Colorado's drought-stricken San Luis Valley.
About one-third of Navajo Nation residents lack running water in their homes and water pollution remains a serious issue in the region. We talk to Kaitlin Harris of DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project about solutions to these pressing problems.
Take a deep dive into water news, check out the Water Desk’s FREE multimedia library, and find more Water Buffs Podcast content at waterdesk.org/
Journalist Geoff McGhee talks to Water Desk Director Mitch Tobin about how still images and video footage captured through aerial tours and drone flights can help explain water issues.
Check out The Water Desk’s FREE multimedia library (waterdesk.org/multimedia), which offers photos and videos of key rivers and water-related locations in the Colorado River Basin and beyond.
NOTE: This episode was recorded before the pandemic forced Lighthawk to shift to pilot-only flights, but we are now using mounted GoPros to capture imagery.
Water Desk Director Mitch Tobin talks to Noah Molotch, Director of the Center for Water Earth Science & Technology (CWEST) at the University of Colorado Boulder, about the importance of snow to our water supply and what the future may hold for the American West’s snowpack.
Water Desk Director Mitch Tobin talks to Fay Hartman, Conservation Director of the Colorado River Basin Program at American Rivers, about a new American Rivers report that examines the economic value of rivers and our nation’s crumbling water infrastructure. The report calls for Congress to invest $500 billion over 10 years on water infrastructure and river restoration.
