Recent floods, PFAS settlement payouts & Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill

In this episode of Talking Under Water, we discuss industry news, including the  recent floods in Texas, North Carolina and New Mexico, President Trump’s spending and tax bill, known as the Big Beautiful Bill and PFAS settlement payouts.   

Show Notes:    

• What to know about the Texas and North Carolina floods
• [USA Today] Who's to blame for Texas flooding tragedy? There is a lot of finger pointing.
• [The Washington Post] Chantal floods North Carolina, now moving into Mid-Atlantic
• [NBC News] 3 dead after historic flash flooding hits New Mexico town ravaged by wildfires
• [Raleigh News & Observer] 6 lives lost to Chantal in central NC. Here’s what we know about them.
• Every Mention of ‘water’ in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill 
• More than $900 million awarded to clients from PFAS water contamination settlement

Timestamps:   

• Episode intro | 0:47
  Hosts introduce themselves and today's main topics.
• Texas flooding overview | 01:18 
  Co-host Katie Johns covers devastating flash floods across multiple states.
• Camp Mystic tragedy | 01:45
  Flooding near Guadalupe River causes more than 100 deaths, including campers and counselors from Camp Mystic.
• Flood volume perspective | 02:36
• Historical flood context | 03:23 
  Guadalupe River has flooded over a dozen times since 1978.
• North Carolina flooding | 03:35
  Tropical Storm Chantal drops two months' worth of rain in some areas.
• New Mexico flooding | 04:26
  Monsoons over wildfire burn scars cause deadly flash floods.
• Big, Beautiful Bill | 05:32
  Co-host Mandy Crispin discusses Trump's new spending and tax bill.
• Water industry funding | 06:04
  Details on source water and watershed funding.
• Reclamation project funds | 07:11
  $1B for expanding water storage and conveyance systems.
• Indirect industry impacts | 07:44
  Cuts to green energy; no water infrastructure funds.
• PFAS settlement |  08:31
  Co-host Bob Crossen covers 3M, DuPont PFAS legal settlement funds.
• Future PFAS claims | 09:54 
  Legal options remain for more water/wastewater systems.
• Housekeeping | 10:10
  Call for nominations for Wastewater Digest’s Top Project awards; WaterWorld July/August issue available in print and online' StormCon 2025 promo and exclusive code

*Timestamps were written with the assistance of artificial intelligence.

Resources: 

• WWD Top Projects 
• WaterWorld July/August Issue 
• Use code WWD15 to get 15% off your StormCon attendee pass when you register at StormCon.com.

About the Podcast      

Talking Under Water is the premier podcast for the water industry, including municipal water and wastewater, residential water treatment, storm water management and erosion control. It is produced in coordination between Wastewater Digest (WWD), WaterWorld and Storm Water Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential, storm water and erosion control markets. Talking Under Water highlights news, trends, new technologies, industry discussions and interviews with experts across the municipal water industry. New episodes of the podcast are released every other week. Logo Images: Anatoly Tiplyashin / Romolo Tavani / stock.adobe.com.      

Contact the Talking Under Water podcast editors by emailing [email protected] engaging with them on X @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media.