Out West (Presented by the Western Governors’ Association)

A new frontier of water management is opening up across the West. As our lakes, aquifers, and rivers face unpredictable drought conditions from year to year, western communities are exploring new ways to strengthen and diversify their water supplies. Desalination and water reuse have emerged as one promising tool to turn previously unusable water resources into vast amounts of new supply. In this episode, WGA’s Elias Jaynes speaks with Dr. Peter Fiske, Jeremy Crutchfield, Dave Pederson, Tim Quinn, Tanya Trujillo, Jonas Armstrong, and Scott Reinert about the promise of seawater desalination, inland brackish water desalination, water reuse, and emerging technologies for water treatment. Altogether, these strategies are designed to ease the pressure on the West’s freshwater resources and bring in new supplies to benefit the entire region.

Three years ago, on August 8, 2023, the world watched in horror as a catastrophic wildfire swept across Maui, destroying the historic town of Lahaina. Yet amid the devastation, the strength of the Maui community—and the outpouring of support from around the world—demonstrated the extraordinary power of resilience, compassion, and cooperation. Led by Hawaiʻi Governor Josh Green and Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen, Lahaina’s recovery has been nothing short of remarkable. Working alongside federal agencies and community partners, they cleared wildfire debris, secured more than 600 homes for survivors, helped negotiate a landmark settlement, and began the difficult work of rebuilding the town. Today, homes are being rebuilt, businesses are reopening, and a community that feared it had lost everything is beginning to flourish once again. The recovery has also created opportunities to rebuild Lahaina in ways that are safer, more resilient, and more reflective of Hawaiian culture. To reflect on that journey – and share lessons that could help other communities recover from future disasters – WGA’s Communications Director, Jack Spina, spoke with Lahaina resident Kaliko Storer; Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen; Maui County Deputy Managing Director Erin Wade; and Hawaiʻi Governor Josh Green. Their stories reveal not only what Lahaina has endured, but what is possible when a community comes together to reclaim its future. 

For years, quantum computing has sounded like something straight out of science fiction. Now, it’s getting real. The industry is rapidly advancing, major breakthroughs are coming into view, and quantum could soon begin reshaping everyday life—just as artificial intelligence has in recent years. In this episode, WGA Communications Specialist Eli Jaynes speaks with Colorado Governor Jared Polis, University of New Mexico Professor Ivan Deutsch, and Atom Computing’s Chief Product Officer, Justin Ging, about the state of the industry and where it’s headed next.  He also speaks with Professor Heather Lewandowski from the University of Colorado and Gwen Leifer from Lockheed Martin about efforts to develop a quantum workforce capable of taking this industry to the next level. 

Somewhere between 140,000 and 390,000 abandoned hardrock mines are scattered throughout the West. Many have sat idle for decades, posing serious safety risks and polluting Western waterways. Last year, Congress took action on this issue by passing the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act. The law launches a pilot program that allows for the cleanup of 15 mine sites without fear of liability — a landmark step to accelerate reclamation across the region. Western Governors have advocated for this legislation for decades, and WGA celebrated the bill's passage.  Tune in to hear from Colorado Senator and former Governor John Hickenlooper as well as experts and organizations involved in cleaning up abandoned mines. They share why this legislation matters, how the pilot program will work, and what kinds of projects could finally move forward under its protections. In addition to Senator Hickenlooper, you'll hear from David Hockey, the Acting Director of EPA’s Office of Mountains, Deserts, and Plains; Chris Wood, CEO of Trout Unlimited; and Rob Ghiglieri, Administrator of the Nevada Division of Minerals.

In June, Utah Governor Spencer Cox became Chair of the Western Governors’ Association. His Chair Initiative, Energy Superabundance: Unlocking Prosperity in the West, will explore how states can expand energy production, transmission, and storage to meet rising demand and achieve true energy abundance across the region. In this episode of Out West, WGA Executive Director Jack Waldorf sits down with Governor Cox to talk about the inspiration and vision behind his new initiative. You’ll also hear from WGA Policy Advisor Abby Pelsmaeker, who spoke with Emy Lesofski, Director of the Utah Office of Energy Development, to learn more about Utah’s approach to energy innovation—and how it can help seize the opportunities shaping our nation’s energy future. Finally, you’ll hear from John Wagner, the Laboratory Director at the Idaho National Laboratory, who spoke at the first Energy Superabundance workshop about the unique factors driving today’s nuclear resurgence—one he says is unlike anything he’s seen in his 30-year career.      Finally, WGA would like to thank our initiative partners: Advanced Energy United; American Clean Power; Amazon Web Services; ClearPath; Deloitte; Idaho National Laboratory; Iron Workers International; JP Morgan Chase; National Hydropower Association; NextEra Energy; Nuclear Energy Institute; The Pew Charitable Trusts; Southwest Power Pool, and Williams Companies. 

The history of the West has always been defined by water. Long before settlers arrived, Indigenous peoples designed complex water management systems to cultivate the arid land. In the 19th and 20th centuries, large-scale engineering projects redistributed water across the West, enabling the region’s rapid growth. Today, western water resources are stretched thin, and as rivers and streams dry up, so too does the environmental resiliency that’s provided by healthy riparian zones.   To help address this issue, many western states are looking to beavers – long known as nature’s engineers – to ensure more water is retained on the landscape. New research shows that this will help restore biodiversity and mitigate the effects of prolonged drought, unexpected flooding, and catastrophic wildfires.     In this episode of Out West, WGA policy advisors Jonah Seifer and Zach Nowak spoke with beaver experts from around the region about how these aquatic rodents can help us restore balance to the West’s water systems.   For these discussions they were joined by Emily Fairfax, an ecohydrologist, beaver researcher, and Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Minnesota; Chris Jordan, a Fisheries Biologist with NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center; Alexander Funk, the Director of Water Resources and Senior Counsel at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership; Marshall Wolf, a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission; and Jerry Altermatt, a habitat biologist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.        

In the wake of natural disasters, navigating complicated bureaucratic systems can be extremely challenging – especially for those living in historically underserved communities. Community navigators can help raise awareness about available resources and provide technical assistance when applying for grants or other government aid.  In this episode of Out West, WGA senior policy advisor Jonah Seifer speaks with Meryl Harrell, the Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They discuss the department’s newly formed community navigators program and how it can help disseminate funds more equitably and efficiently.   Jonah also spoke with Jonathan Bruno and Thérèse d'Auria Ryley from Coalitions and Collaboratives, one of the USDA’s partners charged with enacting the community navigators program on the ground.    

Last year, as the Chair of WGA, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon launched the Decarbonizing the West initiative. It examined how methods of decarbonization can position Western states at the forefront of innovation and reduce the effects of carbon emissions on the environment. The initiative explored a wide range of engineered decarbonization and natural sequestration strategies – everything from direct air capture and carbon credit markets to climate-smart agriculture and biofuel – all of which present enormous opportunities for western states. In this episode of Out West, WGA policy advisor Abby Pelsmaeker speaks with some of the country's leading decarbonization experts about how these strategies have evolved in recent years and their prospects for the future.  To learn more about these decarbonization strategies, including federal policy recommendations for advancing the industry, check out the Decarbonizing the West initiative report on WGA’s website.

In this episode of Out West, hear about the threat posed by invasive zebra and quagga mussels to western waterways, and understand the ongoing work to contain and eliminate this threat.  We dive into recent detections of invasive mussels in the Snake River in Idaho and a stretch of the Colorado River in Colorado. Those detections sparked rapid and thorough responses to contain, monitor, and even eradicate these mussels. Over the course of the episode, WGA Policy Advisor Zach Nowak sits down with the experts and managers that are working to manage those detections and keep western lakes and rivers free of invasive mussels.  You'll hear from Idaho Governor Brad Little, Idaho State Department of Agriculture Director Chanel Tewalt, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Invasive Species Program Manager Robert Walters, National Invasive Species Council Executive Director Stas Burgiel, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator Barak Shemai, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator Theresa Thom. 

The Western Governors' Association celebrated the 40th anniversary of its founding by hosting an afternoon of programming that included fireside chats with current and former Western Governors. Joining WGA's current chair, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, was former Governors - and former WGA Chairs - Steve Bullock of Montana, Gary Herbert of Utah, David Ige of Hawaii, Matt Mead of Wyoming, Bob Miller of Nevada, Butch Otter of Idaho, and Brian Sandoval of Nevada.  Their discussions, which were moderated by Judy Woodruff, the former anchor and managing editor of the PBS NewsHour, focused on the importance of bipartisanship when dealing with many of the country's complex problems.  Tune into their discussion by listening to the latest episode of WGA's Out West podcast.