Talking Under Water Episode 68: Flood control trends

May 19, 2023
In this episode, the hosts talk about Build America, Buy America and Clean Water Act enforcement and share an interview on flood control trends.

In this month’s episode of Talking Under Water, hosts Bob Crossen and Katie Johns give an update on Build America, Buy America as the 1-year anniversary of its implementation hits. They also touch on U.S. EPA’s first-ever Clean Water Act Enforcement for PFAS in stormwater and share an update from the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee. Finally, they share interview with Pradeep Nagarajan, integrated water management, technical director for GHD. Johns spoke with Pradeep on all things flood control – trends, new technologies and how the climate is playing into these. 

Show Notes:  

Timestamps:  

  • Cold open | 0:00 
  • Episode summary | 1:06 
  • BABA 1-year anniversary overview | 1:44 
  • Who ensures BABA compliance? | 4:39 
  • How are subcomponents calculated in manufactured products? | 5:11 
  • How should OEMs respond to seeing BABA compliance in bid specs? | 5:39 
  • Is labor counted in construction or assembly? | 6:20 
  • Timelines and business impacts on BABA | 7:19 
  • The first ever CWA PFAS enforcement for stormwater | 8:45 
  • Chesapeake Bay water quality progess slower than expected | 10:16 
  • Interview begins 
  • Trends or solutions for flood mitigation | 13:06 
  • Challenges in overcoming feasibility of solutions | 14:19 
  • The impacts of frequency and intensity of storms increasing | 16:45 
  • GHD’s approach to flood mitigation | 20:43 
  • One water and regional stormwater strategies | 23:28 
  • How funding improves adaptability | 25:43 
  • Digital transformation and artificial intelligence | 27:41 
  • Importance of collaboration and communication | 29:22 
  • Final thoughts | 30:51 
  • Housekeeping | 32:30 

Awards 

WQP Faces of the Industry

StormCon Discount: 

Talking Under Water listeners have access to a special discount code to register for this year's StormCon. When registering, use the code ONEWATER10 to receive a 10% discount on your conference registration. Visit bit.ly/stormconreg2023 to register and use the code. 

About the Podcast  

Talking Under Water is the premier podcast for the water industry, including municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential water treatment, storm water management and erosion control. It is produced in coordination between Water & Wastes Digest (WWD), Water Quality Products (WQP) and Storm Water Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, point of use, point of entry, residential, storm water and erosion control markets. Talking Under Water highlights news, trends, new technologies, industry discussions and on-site interviews with experts for WWD, WQP and SWS. New episodes of the podcast are released on the third Friday of every month. Logo Images: Anatoly Tiplyashin / Romolo Tavani / stock.adobe.com.  

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

About the Author

Katie Johns

Katie Johns, editor-in-chief of Storm Water Solutions and Water Quality Products, graduated from the University of Missouri in 2016 with a Bachelor of Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. Johns joined the Storm Water Solutions team in September 2019. Johns also helps plan the annual StormCon conference and co-hosts the Talking Under Water podcast. Prior to entering the B2B industry, she worked as a newspaper reporter and editor in Sarasota, Florida, and a magazine assistant editor in the Chicago suburbs. She can be reached at [email protected]

About the Author

Bob Crossen

Bob Crossen is the editorial director for the Endeavor Business Media Water Group, which publishes WaterWorld, Wastewater Digest and Stormwater Solutions. Crossen graduated from Illinois State University in Dec. 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in German and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. He worked for Campbell Publications, a weekly newspaper company in rural Illinois outside St. Louis for four years as a reporter and regional editor.