ARTICLES BY JIM LAURIA

• Water Trading vs. Water Speculation: What Would Michael Lewis Say?

  5/2/2023

  I'm a big fan of author, reporter, and overall sharp-eyed observer Michael Lewis, author of Liar's Poker, The Big Short, Moneyball, and other explorations of the depths of economics and humans' capacity for brilliance...and greed. With a new wave of interest in water trading, facilitated by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and NASDAQ listing water as a tradeable commodity, I'm very eager to get Lewis' take on what he sees.

• Two Water Movies: The Harmful And The Hopeful

  3/8/2023

  Adam Tank and I just had Travis Loop as a guest on our podcast Water We Talking About, and he gave us an update on his initiative to do in-depth reporting on the PFAS issue. And our next guest is Aoife Kelleher, associate producer and lead researcher for the water documentary Brave Blue World. So I thought it would be a good time to repost my review on two very different water movies, Dark Waters and Brave Blue World.

• When It Comes To Water, California Is The Canary In The Gold Mine

  2/14/2023

  Talking to a friend a couple of weeks ago, the malaprop "canary in the gold mine" popped into the conversation. That was worth a chuckle, but then a moment of reflection. What a perfect way to describe California, nicknamed The Golden State by eager miners during the Gold Rush of the 1840s and '50s, that has been yielding a steady stream of riches from its farms, forests, mines, and minds ever since.

• Stormwater Management Is A Worldwide Challenge

  2/6/2023

  Last month, I wrote about San Francisco's great rain garden/bio-retention basin project. Strategically placed sunken curb cuts, swales, or park features collect stormwater and let it filter into the ground, reducing the pressure on overwhelmed storm drains and sewers.

• Rain Gardens Guarding San Francisco

  1/27/2023

  Laurie Lauria and I spent last week moving out of San Francisco up to Napa, California, dodging the raindrops and taking advantage of a few dry days in this remarkably stormy winter — weather that makes this a perfect time to talk about the need to capture rainwater and protect overwhelmed urban sewer systems.

• Water Messages From Above...

  12/29/2022

  At the end of 2022, I want to give a big thanks to all the guests who appeared on our #waterwetalkingabout podcast this past year.

• Carbon Capture And The Circular Water Economy: Better Together

  12/19/2022

  I had the privilege of presenting at the Irrigation Association (IA) Show recently in Las Vegas on how smart irrigation leads to more efficient carbon capture. The topic is as timely as it gets — both water efficiency and carbon sequestration are high-visibility issues right now around the world — and the audience represented many of the top minds in irrigation and agriculture.

• Bezos Earth Fund Should Focus On Water

  11/29/2022

  With Jeff Bezos announcing that he will be donating most of his wealth to philanthropic causes during his lifetime, I decided to repost my 2018 open letter to him on why his philanthropy should be directed towards water issues.

• My 15 Favorite Water Books

  11/23/2022

  John Steinbeck famously said, “I guess there are never enough books”, and I would say that goes double for books about water. So during this holiday season, please think about giving a water book as a gift or maybe pick up one for yourself.

• Case Studies Make A Strong Case For Ozone Sidestream Injection

  11/18/2022

  This article will explore various SSI systems and the principal benefit that each setup delivers. 

• Cryptocurrency And Water

  11/18/2022

  With the meltdown of FTX and the price of Bitcoin sinking to a quarter of its high water mark of over $64,000 in value (now maybe two bit Bitcoin?), I decided to resurrect my 2018 post Is Cryptocurrency Going Down the Drain?...

• Giving Voice To Water...

  11/11/2022

  As a new member of #WWEMA and a first time attendee at their annual conference, I have to say that Executive Director Vanessa Leiby, her staff and the board of directors led by Chairman Vince Baldasare delivered on their mission to be the voice of water and wastewater technology providers.

• Bubble, Bubble Toil And Trouble

  10/31/2022

  With this being Halloween, I figured I would paraphrase the Song of the Witches from Shakespeare's Macbeth to continue my reporting on how bubble technology can play a major role in water treatment applications.

• 5 Job Search Tips For Water Professionals

  10/25/2022

  When my friend Björn Otto published a recent post in his newsletter Water. Technology. Marketing., I told the story of how I used business cards during job searches. Remembering this hack compelled me to post the successful job search tips I have used throughout my career...