How do forests shape our water security? Why do rivers need to flow? And what happens to fish, turtles and gharials when dams shut off water? In this episode, host Veena Srinivasan speaks with Jagdish Krishnaswamy to explore the science that connects hydrology, ecology, and the people who depend on India’s rivers and landscapes. From the Western Ghats to the Himalayas, from springs to large reservoirs, this episode dives into decades of pioneering field research, where data collection meets c...
In this episode, host Veena Srinivasan speaks with Henk Ovink who is often called the world’s first “Water Diplomat” for a deep and wide-ranging conversation on trust, global cooperation, imagined redundancy, and the future of water governance around the world. Henk Ovink, joins host Veena Srinivasan on Season 2, Episode 9 of the Water Data Podcast. Henk has had an extraordinary career shaping water diplomacy and resilience - from serving as the Special Envoy for International Water Aff...
How should we understand groundwater in a warming world? Why has groundwater become the climate resilience resource for millions of people and what do we now know about how fast recharge can occur? What does new data tell us about the future of groundwater across Africa and Asia? And how can communities and governments manage groundwater without falling into the trap of over-extraction? In this episode, host Veena Srinivasan speaks with Richard Taylor who has spent decades studying groundwate...
How do we balance the science of water flows with the spiritual and social lives that rivers sustain? What does it mean to define “environmental flows” in a country where rivers are sacred? How can data, stories, and citizen science come together to restore river health? In this episode, host Veena Srinivasan and guest co-host Nirat Bhatnagar of Dalberg Advisors are joined by two remarkable guests: Dr. Sejal Worah, Programme Director at WWF India, and Dr. Kate Brauman, Lead Scientist at the G...
Nitrogen has been feeding billions, but it is now overloading our soils, waters, and air. Why is the fertilizer that fuels our food supply also creating a massive pollution problem? How do India's large fertilizer subsidies fit into this, and what are the long-term health risks of "legacy nitrogen" already in our groundwater? Esha Zaveri, Senior Economist at the World Bank joins host Veena Srinivasan on Season 2, Episode 7 of the Water Data Podcast. Esha Zaveri is trained as an environmental ...
What makes the Indo-Gangetic Basin one of the most important aquifers in the world? How do stable isotopes, CFCs, and even traces of pharmaceuticals help us understand where groundwater comes from and how old it is? Can satellites like GRACE and InSAR give us new insights into groundwater depletion and recharge in South Asia? Alan M. MacDonald, Head of Groundwater at the British Geological Survey, joins host Veena Srinivasan on Season 2, Episode 6 of the Water Data Podcast. Alan is a hydrogeo...
Professor Murugesu Sivapalan shares how the field of hydrology has evolved over the past few decades, on Season 2, Episode 5 of the Water Data Podcast. Prof Murugesu Sivapalan is the Chester and Helen Siess Endowed Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr Sivapalan is an award-winning academic and was founding chair of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) Decade on Predictions in Ungauged Basins (PUB) initi...
Host Veena Srinivasan sits down with Dr. Tom Gleeson, renowned hydrologist and Professor at the University of Victoria, Canada. Dr. Tom Gleeson shares his journey from a small-town experience with groundwater contamination to becoming a global leader in groundwater research. The conversation explores Tom’s early fieldwork in fractured rock aquifers, the challenges of modeling groundwater systems, and his pivotal role in developing global groundwater sustainability frameworks. Tom and Ve...
How and why does flooding take place? How are flood risks evolving with climate change and large-scale human alteration of riverscapes and watersheds? Does it even make sense to measure a ‘100-year-flood’ any more? Stockholm Water Prize 2025 winner Dr Guenter Bloeschl shares a masterclass on the science and management of floods on the third episode of Season 2 of the Water Data Podcast. The Water Data Podcast is a talk show on the science, systems, and stories of water hosted by Veena Sriniva...
Do farmers share and sell groundwater to each other informally? Can you price water for farmers? How does new technology get adopted in agriculture? Does solar irrigation make sense for India? Dr Soumya Balasubramanya has a wide-ranging discussion with host Veena Srinivasan on the second episode of Season 2 of the Water Data Podcast. Dr Soumya Balasubramanya is a senior economist with the World Bank, and previously a Senior Researcher in Environment and Development Economics at the Internatio...
How do you develop a water policy for a state like Karnataka, and how do you implement it well? How can you bring the best of science, engineering and citizen engagement to water management in government? What does it mean to build a think tank within the government? Dr Somasekhar Rao has a wide-ranging discussion with host Veena Srinivasan on the first episode of Season 2 of the Water Data Podcast. Dr Somasekhar Rao is Director (Technical) of the Advanced Centre for Integrated Water Resource...
The Water Data Podcast is a talk show on the science, systems, and stories of water hosted by Veena Srinivasan. Every other Tuesday, sit down and listen to researchers, innovators, government officials and business leaders working on the forefront of water systems. New episodes out from June 22, 2025! Veena Srinivasan is an award-winning socio-hydrologist as well as the founder and Executive Director of WELL Labs, a water systems research and innovation centre based in Bengaluru, India....
The episode focuses on the role and use of data for corporate water stewardship. Our guests Hari Hegde from Wipro Limited and Jason Morisson from the CEO Water Mandate and the Pacific Institute join us to talk about business action, how businesses can become water efficient and how data ties into these questions. They walk us through their journey with corporate water stewardship. The Water Data Podcast is a talk show on the science, systems, and stories of water hoste...
In this episode, Ranjiv Khush from Aquaya Institute and Dr. Sunderrajan Krishnan from INREM foundation walk us through their journey with water data and its connections with water quality and public health. They discuss why water quality is important to them, the different facets of measuring water quality, different approaches to data-driven solutions towards better public health and the bottlenecks to scaling them. The Water Data Podcast is a talk show on the science, systems, and stories o...
In the first episode episode, our guests Peter Gleick from Pacific Institute and Rohini Nilekani from Arghyam, join us to talk about the role and importance of water data and the trends they have observed in the sector through decades of practice. They discuss the challenges and gaps in the water data ecosystem and how we can collaborate better, learn from each other and bring about a culture of using water data in decision making. The Water Data Podcast is a talk show on the science, systems...