A Nat Geo Explorer’s Quest to Help Solve Drought

>> NOT TO A CRISIS OF WATER.

CONTACTING COUNTRIES AROUND THE GLOBE.

IN THE UNITED STATES AT LEAST SEVEN STATES ARE VETTED BY THE ALARMING DEPLETION OF THE COLORADO RIVER.

WITH THE WATER LEVELS OF LAKE POWELL AND LAKE MEAD REACHING HISTORIC LOWS.

SOME ARE CALLING AN ABSOLUTE JOURNALIST, ERICA GUYS IS SOUNDING THE ALARM IN HER BOOK, ONE ALWAYS WINS.

SHE JOINS [INDISCERNIBLE] TO DISCUSS INNOVATIVE WAYS TO CONSERVE THE PRECIOUS RESOURCE.

>> THIS CONVERSATION IS PART OF THE ONGOING PUBLIC MEDIA INITIATIVE PARALLEL AND PROMISE ON THE CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS GUYS, THANKS MUCH FOR JOINING US.

YOUR BOOK TALKS ABOUT WATER AND KIND OF A GLOBAL SENSE.

BUT HERE IN THE UNITED STATES RIGHT NOW ÃÃTHERE'S A VERY ACTIVE CONVERSATION ON WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THE COLORADO RIVER AND HOW ESSENTIALLY ALL OF THE STATES THAT BENEFIT FROM THE WATER OF THAT RIVER ARE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO REDO AND RETHINK AN AGREEMENT.

WHY IS THIS SO CRUCIAL TO THE UNITED STATES?

>> WATER IS AN INHERENTLY LOCAL ISSUE.

EVERY PLACE HAS ITS OWN UNIQUE GEOLOGY AND ECOLOGY AND HUMAN CULTURE.

AND SO ÃÃALL THE SOLUTIONS NEED TO BE TAILORED WITHIN THOSE REALMS.

AND A POINT THAT I MAKE IN MY BOOK IS THAT YES ÃÃCLIMATE CHANGE IS MAKING DROUGHT AND FLOODING MUCH MORE INTENSE.

BUT A SIGNIFICANT PART OF OUR ISSUES WITH WATER ARE DUE TO OUR DEVELOPMENT CHOICES.

SO THAT SPRAWL AND INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE AND EVEN THE CONCRETE KIND OF VERY CONTROL ORIENTED WAY THAT WE TRY TO MANAGE WATER HAS DRAMATICALLY ALTERED THE WATER CYCLE.

AND IN THAT WAY TESTIS WE'VE CREATED A LOT OF PROBLEMS FOR OURSELVES.

>> WHEN WE LOOK AT HOW WE ENGINEER HOW WATER GETS TO US Ã ÃPEOPLE WILL SAY YES OBVIOUSLY THERE ARE MORE DEMANDS ON THE WATER PRODUCED GREATER POPULATION AND THERE WAS A COUPLE HUNDRED YEARS AGO WHEN THESE TREATIES WERE FIRST SIGNED.

BUT EVIDENTLY KIND OF ENGINEERED OUR WAY INTO A SOLUTION WHERE THERE ARE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES THAT WE DID NOT THINK ABOUT?

BY PUTTING IN THESE SORTS OF CANALS AND DAMS THAT WE HAVE?

>> I THINK THE VERY HEAVILY ENGINEERED WATER SYSTEM THAT WE HAVE HAS WORKED TO A POINT.

BUT NOW WE ARE HITTING THESE TIPPING POINTS WITH POPULATION I JUST WANT TO OFFER A COUPLE OF STATISTICS TO GIVE SOME PERSPECTIVE ON HOW WE HAVE INTERFERED AT THE WATER CYCLE.

SO HUMANS HAVE DRAINED OR FILLED 87 PERCENT OF THE WORLD'S WETLANDS.

AND WE HAVE INTERVENED WITH DAMS AND DIVERSIONS ON TWO THIRDS OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST RIVERS.

AND THE LAND AREA COVERED BY OUR CITIES HAS DOUBLED.

SINCE 1992.

SO IN ALL OF THESE WAYS, WE ARE ACTUALLY PREVENTING WATER FROM TESTIS HAVING ITS SLOW CYCLES.

THESE ARE WETLANDS, SLOW PLANES, MEADOWS AND FORESTS WHERE WATER CAN FLOW ON THE LAND AND MOVE UNDERGROUND.

AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SURFACE AND GROUNDWATER IS REALLY IMPORTANT AND I THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE HAVE REALLY FORGOTTEN IN THE U.S. WEST.

YOU KNOW?

WE TEND TO THINK OF GROUNDWATER AS EXTRA WATER AND SURFACE WATER RUNS DRY.

BUT IN FACT ÃÃTHE SURFACE WATER AND GROUNDWATER ARE CONNECTED.

AND WHEN YOU HAVE A HEALTHY WATER TABLE ÃÃTHAT SUPPLY STREAM SUPPLIES RIVERS AND WETLANDS FROM BELOW.

>> IF YOU COULD EXPLAIN THIS IDEA OF SLOW WATER?

>> ALL THE PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD WHO ADMIT AROUND THE WORLD WHOSE OUR ENGINEERS AND ECOLOGISTS, ARCHITECTS, URBAN PLANNERS, WHO DOING IS REALLY INNOVATIVE THINGS WITH WATER Ã ÃTHEY ARE ALL SEEKING TO RESTORE SLOW FACES THAT WE'VE ERADICATED WITH DEVELOPMENT AND THEY ARE ALSO SEEKING TO RECONNECT THAT SURFACE GROUNDWATER LINK.

AND SO I CAME TO THINK OF THEM AS PART OF THIS SLOW WATER MOVEMENT, WHICH I FIND ANALOGOUS TO THE SLOW MOVEMENT.

THAT'S WHY I THOUGHT OF IT.

BECAUSE SLOW MOVEMENT IS DRAWING ATTENTION TO WHERE OUR FOOD COMES FROM AND HOW ITS GROWTH IMPACTS LOCAL PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT AND SIMILARLY Ã ÃTHE WAY THAT WE RELATE TO WATER IS HAVING THESE KINDS OF IMPACTS.

SO ÃÃTHERE ARE SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF SLOW WATER.

THEY ARE DISTRIBUTED ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE RATHER THAN CENTRALIZED.

THEY ARE SOCIALLY JUST.

THEY DO NOT TAKE WATER FROM ONE PLACE AND GIVE IT TO ANOTHER.

THEY DON'T PROTECT ONE AREA AND THEREFORE MAKE ANOTHER AREA MORE VULNERABLE.

THERE IS OFTEN A COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COMPONENT.

THE PLACES THAT I TRAVEL IN INDIA AND PERU FOR EXAMPLE KENYA ÃÃYOU HAD LOCAL PEOPLE, WHO WORK ACTUALLY BUILDING AND MAINTAINING THESE PROJECTS PRINT SOMETIMES COLLABORATING WITH EACH OTHER.

IN A VERY HANDS-ON WAY.

IT'S KIND OF HARD TO IMAGINE THAT IN THE UNITED STATES ALTHOUGH CERTAINLY PEOPLE WHO ARE LANDOWNERS HAVE DONE THINGS LIKE THIS ON THEIR OWN PROPERTY.

BUT THERE CAN ALSO BE EDUCATIONAL COMPONENTS.

LIKE IF YOU RECLAIM THAT INDUSTRIAL SITE ALONG THE RIVER AND BUILD A PARK THERE ÃÃYOU CAN HAVE SIGNAGE THAT EXPLAINS TO THE PUBLIC WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THE WATER CYCLE THERE.

TO A LARGE EXTENT, FLOW WATER IS LOCAL.

THAT CAN SEEM AN ANATHEMA TO A PLACE THAT SEEMS THE U.S. WEST AND CALIFORNIA, WHERE WE BRING SO MUCH WATER FROM ELSEWHERE.

BUT IT REALLY MEANS ÃÃMAKING THE MOST OF THE WATER THAT COMES.

AND YOU KNOW, CAPTURING IT ON SITE AND HAVING IT BE THERE LOCALLY.

AND TRYING TO THINK IN TERMS OF LIVING WITH YOUR WATER MEANS.

>> YOU ALSO MENTIONED FOR EXAMPLE THAT THE RIPPLE EFFECTS OF WHAT WE HAVE DONE AS HUMAN BEINGS ON ALL OF THE DIFFERENT RIVER SHEDS AND RIVER SYSTEMS AROUND THE WORLD.

BY EXAMPLE FOR PUTTING DAMS ON THE ONE HAND.

LOTS OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE ENGINEERED THIS AND COUNTRIES WE WILL SAY.

HYDROELECTRIC POWERS IS FANTASTIC.

IT'S SO MUCH BETTER THAN YOU KNOW, US TRYING TO USE FOSSIL FUELS.

IT'S HERE FOR US.

BUT AT THE SAME TIME ÃÃWE ARE NOW AT A SITUATION WHERE LAKE MEAD IS RUNNING POTENTIALLY SO LOW THAT IT MAY NOT BE ABLE TO GENERATE POWER IN THE FUTURE.

>> YES, I THINK THERE ARE SOME MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT HYDROPOWER.

BEFORE I READ A LOT OF WATER Ã ÃI READ A LOT ABOUT THE RENEWABLE ENERGY AND YOU KNOW Ã ÃTHERE ARE COUNTRIES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA LIKE ZAMBIA FOR EXAMPLE.

AND MOZAMBIQUE, WHERE THEY GET 96 PERCENT OF THEIR POWER FROM HYDROPOWER.

YOU KNOW, FOR A LONG TIME A LOT OF PEOPLE THOUGHT OF HYDROPOWER AS RELIABLE BASED FLUID POWER.

BUT WE'VE SEEN REALLY TERRIBLE DRUGS AND WHERE HYDROPOWER IS NOT ABLE TO BE PRODUCED ANYMORE AND YOU HAVE ENTIRE ECONOMIES COLLAPSING AT TIMES.

IF YOU HAVE A COUNTRY WHERE YOU KNOW, YOU ARE ENTIRELY DEPENDENT ON THAT POWER.

AND EVEN COUNTRIES THAT ARE ALL 100 PERCENT OR LARGELY DEPENDENT ON THE HYDROPOWER CAN STILL HAVE SOME IMPACT.

I WILL ALSO ADD THAT FOR A LONG TIME HYDROPOWER WAS CONSIDERED TO BE A CARBON FREE SOURCE OF ELECTRICITY.

AND IN FACT IT'S NOT.

THERE IS AN INCREASING BODY OF SCIENCE SHOWING THE OMISSIONS THAT ARE EMBEDDED WITHIN HYDROPOWER THAT WE ARE NOT REALLY COUNTING BECAUSE PEOPLE JUST PRESUMED THAT WE ARE NOT BOWLING ANYTHING.

SO IT'S FINE.

THERE'S A LOT OF EMISSIONS EMBEDDED IN CONCRETE AND I THINK SOMETHING LIKE EIGHT PERCENT OF OUR GLOBAL EMISSIONS COME FROM CONCRETE.

AND THEN THERE'S A SIGNIFICANT METHANE RELEASES FROM THE RESERVOIR.

THAT PLANT MATERIAL DECOMPOSES AND SO IT CAN TAKE MORE THAN A DECADE OF THE EQUIVALENT OF RUNNING FOSSIL FUELS TO OVERCOME THE EMBEDDED CARBON WITHIN THE DAM.

AND THEN THERE'S JUST REALLY MAJOR ECOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL IMPACTS, WHICH HAVE BEEN PRETTY WELL DOCUMENTED AROUND THE WORLD.

>> CHINA FOR EXAMPLE HAS VERY VISIBLY GONE THROUGH SOME OF THE HARDSHIP OF PEOPLE BEING DISPLACED BECAUSE OF THE NEEDS OF ADAMIC.

WE ALSO WROTE ABOUT SOMETHING THAT'S QUITE INTERESTING.

I HEARD ABOUT THIS FOR THE SPIRIT SPONGE CITIES THAT HAPPENED WHAT CAN YOU LEARN FROM THAT?

>> I MENTIONED THAT THE AREA COVERED BY PAVEMENT AND ADVERSITIES GLOBALLY HAS DOUBLED.

DOUBLED SINCE 1982.

AND WE HAVE SEEN A REAL INCREASE IN URBAN FLOODING.

AND IT'S BECAUSE WHEN RAIN FALLS ÃÃPARTLY IT'S BECAUSE CLIMATE CHANGE IS BRINGING BIGGER STORMS.

BUT A BIGGER PART OF IT IS ALSO BECAUSE THAT WATER CANNOT SINK INTO THE SOIL AND SO IT JUST RUNS OFF THE PAVEMENT AND YOU HAVE A LOT OF WATER AT ONCE THAT YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING WITH.

AND THERE IS A LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT THERE NAMED [INDISCERNIBLE] WHO IS PRETTY WELL-KNOWN INTERNATIONALLY.

WHOSE DOING WORK IN TRYING TO FIND THINGS WITHIN THE CITY FOR WATER TO FLOW UNDERGROUND AND HE DOES THIS THROUGH HIS LANDSCAPE OBJECTS.

SO ÃJUST THE PRESIDENT OF BECAME AWARE OF THIS WORK AND DECIDED TO MAKE NATIONWIDE PROGRAM TO TRY AND MAKE CITIES MORE PERMEABLE AND DEDUCTED SPONGE CITIES.

AND I REALLY LIKE THAT MONIKER BECAUSE IT'S VERY EVEN TALKING TO.

YOU IMAGINE THAT THE SOIL ABSORBING THE WATER AND THEN RELEASING IT LATER WHEN IT'S NEEDED.

AND SO ÃÃWITHIN THE CITY, THERE ARE VARIOUS WAYS TO DO THIS.

YOU KNOW?

YOU CAN HAVE GREEN ROOTS.

YOU CAN HAVE BIO SWELLS, WHICH ARE DITCHES THAT ABSORB STORMWATER AND TYPICALLY THEY ARE LINED WITH NATIVE PLANTS THAT CAN TOLERATE BOTH THE WATER AND THE DRY PERIOD.

YOU CAN DO INFILTRATION WELLS, WHICH ARE KIND OF COMICAL WELLS INTO THE GROUND AND THEN THE WATER ABSORBS THROUGH THE SIDES.

YOU CAN MAKE YOUR PAVEMENT PERMEABLE AND YOU CAN MAKE INCENTIVES TO INCREASE FILTRATION WITH STREET TREES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.

>> HE MENTIONED THAT.

TRYING TO RETURN WATER BACK MORE TOWARDS THE NATIONAL STATE OF HOW IT FLOWED.

IT DOES NOT JUST HAVE ORIGINAL BENEFIT.

BUT IT CAN HELP WITH THIS EXISTENTIAL CRISIS THAT WE FACE ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE.

HOW?

>> YOU KNOW, THERE'S AN EXPRESSION THAT CLIMATE CHANGE HAS WATER CHANGE AND THAT'S BECAUSE A LOT OF THE WAYS THAT WE ARE STARTING TO EXPERIENCE CLIMATE CHANGE AND OUR OWN COMMUNITIES IS THROUGH THESE WATER EXTREMES.

YOU KNOW?

HEAVY FLOODING AND REALLY INTENSE DROUGHTS.

AND I THINK PEOPLE CAN FEEL REALLY OVERWHELMED BY CLIMATE CHANGE.

WE ARE WAITING FOR OUR NATIONAL LEADERS TO MAKE DEALS WITH OTHER NATIONAL LEADERS AND EVERYBODY TO REDUCE THEIR ADMISSIONS.

AND YOU KNOW, THAT'S INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT.

BUT 25 PERCENT OF OUR EMOTIONS COME FROM LAND-USE CHANGE.

AND THE SLOW WATER SOLUTIONS HAVE REALLY IMPORTANT CARBON STORAGE COMPONENTS.

AND IN SOME CASES ÃÃDIFFERENT KINDS OF WETLANDS CAN STORE 3Y¥ TIMES MORE CARBON DIOXIDE THAN FORESTS.

>> WE HAVE JOHN HAGAN LUPRON THE PROGRAM AND HE WAS TALKING ABOUT THE NEED FOR SENATORS TO COME TOGETHER AND TRY TO HASH OUT THEIR DISAGREEMENTS ABOUT HOW TO USE THE WATER ON THE COLORADO.

IF YOU WERE IN THAT ROOM SO TO SPEAK ÃÃWHERE THESE PEOPLE ARE.

I MEAN, WHAT IS ÃÃBASED ON YOUR REPORTING AND THAT ONE DETECTIVES THAT YOU HAVE TALKED TO AND THE RESEARCH THAT YOU'VE DONE FOR THIS ON WHAT'S WORKING AROUND THE WORLD ÃÃHOW ÃÃ WHAT IS THE WATER ÃÃWHAT DOES THE COLORADO WARMTH AND HOW CAN WE HELP IT BECOME MORE BIGGEST LIFE-SUSTAINING, WHICH IS BENEFICIAL TO US?

>> WHAT WATER WANTS IS A RETURN OF THESE SLOPE BASES THAT WE ERADICATED WITH OUR DEVELOPMENT.

YOU KNOW, THE WETLANDS, THE FLOODPLAINS.

SO ÃÃTHERE ARE A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE CAN DO.

YOU KNOW?

BEAVER RESTORATION IS REALLY IMPORTANT THING THAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING IN THE WESTERN U.S.

IT STARTED IN WASHINGTON STATE, PRONOUNCE EXPANDING TO OREGON AND CALIFORNIA AND COLORADO.

AND YOU KNOW JUST AS TRAPPERS CAME FIRST ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA AND ELIMINATED MOST OF THE BEAVERS.

IT KILLED THEM THROUGH TRAPPING.

FOR THE FIRST TRADE AND SO WHEN SETTLERS CAME ÃJUST A LANDSCAPE WAS ALREADY SIGNIFICANTLY DRIED OUT FROM WHAT IT HAD BEEN NATURALLY.

IMPORTANT ROLE.

YOU KNOW, THE BUILD THESE PONDS AND THAT SLOWS WATER AND YOU KNOW, THE WATER CAN THEN MOVE UNDERGROUND AND JOINED THE SURFACE WATER AT A LATER DATE.

OF FLOODPLAIN.

SO ÃÃWHEN WE PUT LEVIES RIGHT ALONG THE FLOODPLAIN AND USE THAT LAND FOR DEVELOPMENT AND FOR FARMING ÃÃWE ARE RAISING THE LEVEL OF THE RIVER AND INCREASING FLOOD RISK.

BUT WE ARE ALSO PREVENTING THAT FLOODWATER FROM SLOWING IN THE FLOODPLAIN AND THAT KIND OF WHISKS OUR WATER AWAY AND MAKES IT LESS AVAILABLE INTO THE DRY SEASON.

THERE'S A MUCH MORE IMPORTANT PROCESS FOR CARBON STORAGE AND FOOD AND FAMINE THAT HAPPENED ON THE FLOODPLAIN.

SO IN SOME PLACES, INCLUDING CALIFORNIA, THERE ARE NEW POLICIES TO INCLUDE COURAGE REMOVING THE LEVEES BACK TO THE FAR EDGE OF THE FLOODPLAIN AND RETURN THAT LAND TO WATER.

BUT I REALLY DO THINK THAT IT REQUIRES THINKING MORE IN TERMS OF [LAUGHTER] YOU KNOW, I HESITATE TO SAY THIS BECAUSE I FEEL IT SOUNDS A LITTLE NEW AG, BUT THE ABUNDANCE MENTALITY VERSUS THE SCARCITY MENTALITY.

YOU KNOW?

WHEN YOU ARE TRYING TO SUCK OUT EVERY DROP AND MAXIMIZE EVERY EFFICIENCY ÃÃYOU ARE LEAVING MORE WATER IN THE SYSTEM TO DO ITS THING AND YOU KNOW ÃJUST LIKE IN CALIFORNIA, WE HAVE THIS YOU KNOW ÃÃTHIS FITS VERSUS ARMORS ARGUMENT.

BUT THERE IS BEEN GOOD SOME GOOD SCIENTIFIC WORK THAT SHOWS THAT WHEN YOU SET THE LEVY BACK ON THE FLOODPLAIN AND YOU ALLOW THE FISH TO SPEND TIME IN THE FLOODPLAIN WHEN THEY ARE SMALL, THEY GET REALLY BIG.

YOU KNOW?

SIGNIFICANTLY.

FIVE OR 10 TIMES BETTER THAN THEY WOULD IF THEY WERE JUST GOING TO THE RIVER BECAUSE THE RIVER IN THE LEVY IS LIKE A FOOD DESERT.

SO ÃÃTHE FISH ON THE FLOODPLAIN GET FAT AND HAPPY AND MUCH STRONGER.

IT DOES NOT NEED AS MUCH SPECIAL ATTENTION AND THEN THAT WATER IS THAT SAME WATER THAT WAS BENEFITING THE FISH.

IS MOVING BACK INTO THE RIVER OVER A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME AND KEEPING WATER LEVELS HIGHER THAN SUMMER.

SO THE SAME WATER IS BENEFITING THE FISH AND THE FARMERS.

AND SO ÃÃTHAT IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF THE WAY IN WHICH ROBOTIC FOR THE SYSTEMS AND MAKING THEM HEALTHIER YOU KNOW ÃÃTHEY CAN BETTER PROVIDE FOR US.

>> ERIKA, GUYS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOURNEYS.

THE WATERS CALLED WATER ALWAYS WINS.

GETTING WITH AN AGE OF DROUGHT.

>> THANK YOU.