Forget Silicon Valley. The most innovative "smart technology" for water management might have been invented 1,500 years ago in the Algerian desert.
Host Hugo Powell welcomes Momin Ashraf—Oxford graduate, Esri Young Scholar Award winner, and GIS consultant at Satellite Applications Catapult. Momin has done the impossible: using synthetic aperture radar to spot fuel trucks in the desert and tracking human trafficking via informal mines. But his dream map is something entirely different.
He wants to build a dynamic, interactive visualization of the Foggara system—an ancient, gravity-fed underground water network that communities have used for centuries across North Africa and Asia. Why? Because modern French-colonial dams and canals are losing 50% of Algeria's water. Meanwhile, the Fugara's secret isn't just engineering—it's a radical social justice philosophy where downstream communities hold the power, and "water elders" negotiate allocations face-to-face.
This episode is a takedown of Cartesian reductionism, a love letter to indigenous knowledge, and a warning about fighting "12 rounds with Mother Nature." Plus, Momin offers early-career GIS pros a simple roadmap through the noise (hint: start with ArcGIS/QGIS, then Python, then have fun).
