The Lost Rider Podcast with Herman Brune

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.  

Mrs. Rhonda Kennedy explains to listeners that the Port Mansfield Cut was opened by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1957. While Port Mansfield is no longer a sea-going port, the cut is instrumental to the health of the Lower Laguna Madre. It also allows access to the Gulf from Port Mansfield. Presently, the Cut is silting shut and the Army Corps of Engineers has no plans to continuing its dredging. The people in Port Mansfield are looking for more interested parties to help keep the Cut open. 

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.

Continuing the interview with Chris Parish, CEO and Executive Director of the Peregrine Fund speaks about the Aplomado Falcon, habitat reclamation in South Texas, and helping land owners continue agriculturally while also sustaining habitats for wildlife.

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Chef Josh Schwencke Owner and Operator of Gastronomy out of San Antonio and Executive Chef of Big Sheep Foundation and WomenHunt talks about wild game cooking, Gastronomy Live events, and teaching people how to cook wild game. 

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Florida WIld Woman and wildlife biologist Christina Wilson and native Floridian Charlotte Hartley, Florida Man Official Merchandise Owner, Artist, and Pinup Model talk about wrangling snakes, developing a pinup community with a Florida twist, and using social media for brand development.

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Jason Paul, Owner of family run company Stinky Pants Fishing, talks about the successful pursuit of making a better stringer and getting into Bass Pro Shop.

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Chris Geib, CDO of the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation talks about Great Loop Challenge, a fundraising event supporting the The Sunshine Project, which unites over 20 U.S. cancer centers and rapidly advances treatment trials for children with cancer.

Captain Red Flowers talks about smashing the world record for completing the Great Loop Challenge, a continuous loop around the entire eastern U.S. waterway circuit in order to fundraise this important research.

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