Dean Joseph Schofer and Bill Stowe on the Infrastructure Show
Professor Joseph Schofer hosts a podcast – the Infrastructure Show – on which he interviews experts on many aspects of civil infrastructure systems to inform listeners about U.S. infrastructure, how things work, important new developments, problems and policies. In a recently posted interview, Schofer talks with Bill Stowe, General Manager of the Des Moines, Iowa, Water Works. This third interview in the series exploring some of the nation’s water challenges focuses on how the water needs of municipalities and agriculture can intersect and sometimes conflict. Bill Stowe describes the problems that drainage of chemicals, principally nitrates, from nearby farms affects the quality of input waters and the treatment technologies and costs of potable water. Driven in part by substantial advances in agriculture productivity, solutions may lie in adjustments in farming technologies and regulatory actions aimed at managing the externalities of large-scale agriculture.
Schofer has been hosting the Infrastructure Show since 2009 and has posted nearly 80 interviews covering a wide range of infrastructure topics.