Audacious Water with John Sabo

What are the challenges communities face when it comes to taking action against flooding?
On this episode of Audacious Water, Melissa Roberts joins John to talk about fragmentation, systemic challenges, and how water really flows. Melissa is the Founder and Executive Director of the American Flood Coalition, where she works with leaders across the country to create local solutions to flood management and pass legislation that helps further flood resilience.
Melissa and John talk about the importance of managing flood risk at scale, what that looks like for communities, and why fragmented water governance makes taking effective action so difficult, even when we know the risks. They also discuss how a new national water strategy could help bring these pieces together and move us toward more coordinated, forward-looking solutions.
What you’ll hear in this episode:
* The challenges local leaders face when trying to act on flood risk
* Why managing water at the watershed level matters more than political boundaries
* How a systems approach helps scale solutions and creates co-benefits
* Why preparedness is far less expensive than disaster response
* What needs to change at the state and federal level to reduce fragmentation
* Why innovation is critical to managing future flood risk


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit audaciouswater.substack.com

John Take, executive Vice President and Chief Growth and Innovation officer at the environmental consulting firm Stantec joins John Sabo on the latest episode of Audacious Water to talk about how water infrastructure is evolving as climate change intensifies. He draws on more than 30 years of experience as an engineer working on complex water challenges, including post-Katrina New Orleans and long-term planning in the Colorado River Basin.
John Take explains how modern water projects are planned, who needs to be involved, and how the most successful projects now also depend on governance, financing, data, and meaningful community engagement.
“ When we start to put together teams now, there’s still a client, there’s still a contractor, there’s still an operator. Who’s been added into the mix? It’s finance, it’s academia, it’s nonprofits, it’s philanthropy. We’re getting to better solutions because our team is so much more diverse.”
- John Take, Season 5, Episode 4 of Audacious Water
What you’ll hear in this episode:
* What water infrastructure really means in an era of climate risk
* Why engineering is necessary but no longer sufficient on its own
* How water projects are designed and delivered today
* The role of community engagement in successful climate adaptation
* Why water security is critical to the economy and public health


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit audaciouswater.substack.com

Globally recognized water strategist Will Sarni joins host John Sabo to continue the conversation on why the U.S. needs a new National Water Strategy and to discuss what innovation in the water sector actually means.
Drawing on decades of experience working across the private sector, finance, and public policy, Will explains why water must be treated as a strategic resource and how industries from agriculture to data centers depend on reliable water supplies. They explore the role of finance in scaling solutions, the difference between incremental and disruptive innovation, and why the future of water management depends not just on more data, but on turning data into actionable information, especially as climate change intensifies water-related risks.
"We need to really think about water as a strategic resource, and how do we manage it accordingly - not just have regulations, but we need a rudder on the ship considering how incredibly important water is."
- Will Sarni, Season 5, Episode 3 of Audacious Water
What you’ll hear in this episode:
* Why the U.S. needs a new National Water Strategy
* How water risk affects industries across the economy
* Why innovation in water goes beyond technology
* The role of finance in scaling water solutions
* Turning water data into information people can actually use


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit audaciouswater.substack.com

In the second half of John Sabo’s conversation with Dr. Newsha Ajami and Dr. Martin Doyle, the discussion shifts from the 1951 national water plan to what a modern national water strategy needs to address. Together, they explore the economic value of water, the scale and structure of governance, rural water challenges, and why innovation in governance and finance, and not just technology, is essential for the decades ahead.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit audaciouswater.substack.com

It’s been 75 years since the United States released its first and only national water strategy. In this episode, John talks with Dr. Newsha Ajami of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and Dr. Martin Doyle of Duke University about why that original plan mattered, what it accomplished, and why today’s challenges call for a new approach. They explore the historical context of the 1951 plan, the issues it identified that remain relevant today, and how political boundaries, fragmented agencies, and modern pressures like groundwater depletion and climate change make a new national strategy essential.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit audaciouswater.substack.com