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The Water Data PodcastAuthor: WELL Labs
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. Language: en-us Genres: Earth Sciences, Nature, Science Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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Groundwater, Climate Resilience & Africa’s Aquifers with Richard Taylor | Ep 8
Episode 9
Tuesday, 11 November, 2025
How should we understand groundwater in a warming world? Why has groundwater become the climate resilience resource for millions of people and what do we now know about how fast recharge can occur? What does new data tell us about the future of groundwater across Africa and Asia? And how can communities and governments manage groundwater without falling into the trap of over-extraction?In this episode, host Veena Srinivasan speaks with Richard Taylor who has spent decades studying groundwater systems across East Africa, West Africa, South Asia, and the UK, and has helped reshape how scientists understand recharge, resilience, and climate impacts underground.Professor Richard G. Taylor, a leading global expert on groundwater and climate change from University College London (UCL) joins host Veena Srinivasan on Season 2, Episode 8 of the Water Data Podcast. Richard has spent decades studying groundwater systems across East Africa, West Africa, South Asia, and the UK, and has helped reshape how scientists understand recharge, resilience, and climate impacts underground.In this episode, they discuss why groundwater is our largest and most crucial distributed store of freshwater and serves as a critical buffer against climate change. They explore how a warming world leads to fewer but heavier rainfalls, and what this means for increasing groundwater recharge, especially in the tropics. Professor Taylor further explains the science behind rapid recharge, a concept derived from his work in East and West Africa, where water travels through "macropores" to reach deep aquifers in just hours or days. They also touch upon the "Sahelian paradox," a curious case in places like Niger where groundwater levels are rising due to changes in land use.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-richard-taylor/Subscribe to The Water Data Podcast on your favourite podcast app – and catch video episodes on the WELL Labs YouTube channel @welllabs.Subscription links: Youtube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, Castbox, and wherever you get your podcasts! Recording by Nabina Chakraborty and Nanditha Gogate. Video editing by Nabina Chakraborty. Graphics and artwork by Aparna Nambiar. Audio mixing and mastering by Vijay Doiphode. Podcast production and management by Nabina Chakraborty and Pavan Srinath.
