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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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The Art of Good Hydrological Modelling | Hubert Savenije
Episode 13
Tuesday, 20 January, 2026
How can simple models explain the complexity of rivers, landscapes and water systems? Why does hydrology sometimes struggle to connect theory and reality?In this episode of the Water Data Podcast, Veena Srinivasan speaks with Prof. Hubert Savenije, Emeritus Professor of Hydrology at TU Delft and one of the most influential thinkers in modern hydrological science.They discuss Hubert’s early journey in hydrology and how intuition shaped his scientific thinking, the importance of embracing uncertainty in water science, and why catchments behave like complex adaptive systems. They explore emergent hydrological behaviour, the limits of top-down and bottom-up modelling approaches, the role of vegetation and root systems in storing water and shaping landscape memory, and the difference between evaporation and transpiration in driving water loss. The discussion also covers large-scale water balance patterns such as Budyko curves, the challenges of modelling hydrology under climate change, the risks of over-parameterisation and data-heavy modelling approaches, and practical advice for young researchers on building intuition, spending time in the field, and connecting theory with real-world observation.This episode offers a rare philosophical and practical perspective on hydrology- bridging theory, observation, and imagination.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-hubert-savenije/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 Vraj Acharya, Nabina Chakraborty. Video editing by Vraj Acharya. Graphics and artwork by Aparna Nambiar. Audio mixing and mastering by Vijay Doiphode. Podcast production and management by Nabina Chakraborty and Pavan Srinath.
