The Lost Rider Podcast with Herman Brune

Brune visits with Texas Outdoor Partners President John Shepard. They discuss the past session of the Texas Legislature, the system in which TOP operates, and the possible reemerging of the Sportsman's Caucus in Texas. Another topic of discussion was the Texas Parks and Wildlife budget. 

Water questions is a commentary from Brune. It showcases that lifelong "conservationists" in state agencies have the answers to questions that plague concerned citizens and NGO's. There is nothing new about water process technologies. When discussing water desalination: Water treatment for super saturated saline discharges was practiced in Texas, in the 1980's, during the creation of the strategic oil reserves. Likewise, major municipalities enjoy the recycling commonly known as "toilet to tap". So - why is the public unaware of the technologies that sustain the modern lifestyle? Why don't the lifelong agency "conservationists" serve the needs of providing public information? Why must we suffer the teeth-gnashing and hair-pulling caused by either the lack of information, or by false information? Is the public relegated into woeful ignorance purposefully by state agencies? Why?

In a rare step away from environmental technology issues Brune interviews Darren Amundson. Amundson is the inventor of fishdonkey. It's an app that allows catch and release fishing tournaments without ever killing a fish and eliminates any chance to cheat the judges. The interview takes place at the Associated Great Lakes Outdoor Writers Conference in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. 

There is a brackish aquifer water desal plant planned for South Texas. The news about this topic went out before planning was complete. Directors are still addressing the public's concerns about managing the super-saline discharge, as well as, studying their options for management. Brune and STWA Director John Marez discuss the longstanding technology available to quell these concerns. Despite having waste water technology in place for decades the general public is woefully ignorant, as well as, distrusting. It will be the STWA's job to implement good practices, and to keep the public advised into perpetuity. Currently, freshwater to Kingsville comes from Corpus Christi. Corpus also gets water from Lake Texana, and that Lake may be supplemented by LCRA Colorado River water from Garwood, Texas. Marez believes desalinating the brackish aquifer water will cost the consumers less, and save freshwater for Texas.

August, 2000 - August 2025, twenty-five years reporting weekly on water issues, technology, the North American Wildlife Conservation Model, and finding answers to the questions that otherwise go unanswered. 

Nueces River Authority Executive Director John Byrum details a few of the complexities of desalinating seawater. The project is slated to be on Harbor Island at Port Aransas. Byrum explains both how the intake and discharge are managed. Water process technologies are not new to Texas. Reclamation of minerals from super-saline concentrates may have been implemented at the 1984 Byan Mound Strategic Oil Reserve drilling, and we know that super-saline concentrates were discharged into the Gulf in 1988 at the Spring Hill Strategic Oil Reserve. In both instances there was no environmental impact. Byrum assures that the desal plant on Harbor Island may likewise have a deep-water diffused discharge with no environmental impact. There is also the likelihood that minerals may be reclaimed before the discharge further diffusing the saline content.