The Water Data Podcast
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.
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 Water Data Podcast features discussions on what data and research tell us about water systems, about how climate change is affecting them and how human use of water is transforming the stock and flow of water across diverse landscapes and aquifers. The show focuses on how we can collectively manage water systems better.
Subscribe to The Water Data Podcast on your favourite podcast app - and catch video episodes on the WELL Labs YouTube channel.
The Water Data Podcast
California's Groundwater Governance Successes | Dr. Maurice Hall
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California’s groundwater crisis did not emerge overnight. Decades of unrestricted pumping, falling groundwater levels, land subsidence, disappearing streamflows, and recurring droughts eventually pushed the state toward one of the world’s most ambitious groundwater governance reforms: the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
In this episode of the Water Data Podcast, Dr. Maurice Hall, Senior Advisor for Climate Resilient Water Systems at the Environmental Defense Fund, joins host Veena Srinivasan to speak about California’s landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
The conversation explores how California’s unique water rights system shaped groundwater use, why the 2012–2016 drought became a turning point, and how local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies are now attempting to balance pumping, recharge, ecosystems, and agricultural demand across the state.
Maurice explains the science behind land subsidence, disappearing streamflows, and groundwater depletion, while also unpacking how California invested heavily in groundwater monitoring, basin-scale models, satellite-based evapotranspiration tools like OpenET, and new approaches to managed aquifer recharge.
The episode also reflects on what India can learn from California’s experience. While the political and agricultural contexts are very different, the challenges of groundwater depletion, fragmented governance, and delayed action resonate strongly across both regions.
This episode offers a rare inside look into the science, politics, and institutional challenges of groundwater governance at scale.
The Water Data Podcast is a talk show on the science, systems, and stories of water, hosted by Veena Srinivasan.
For all references and further readings related to the episode, visit https://welllabs.org/wdp-maurice-hall/
Subscribe to The Water Data Podcast on your favourite podcast app—and catch video episodes on the WELL Labs YouTube channel @welllabs.
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Recording by Vraj Acharya and Nabina Chakraborty. Editing by Srisabari Varaguna Pandian. Graphics and artwork by Aparna Nambiar and Oishika Goswami. Audio mixing and mastering by Vijay Doiphode. Podcast production and management by Nabina Chakraborty and Pavan Srinath.
