Practitioners
The world’s leading professionals in water cycle restoration. Want to get professional help creating water retention landscapes or restoring your community’s watershed? These are the best people in the world to help you realize your goals and dreams.
Expert Practitioners
The best and most experienced practitioners of Water Cycle Restoration
Sepp Holzer
Austria
Sepp Holzer was called the “rebel farmer” because he persisted creating an ecological oasis in Austria, despite being fined and even threatened with prison, with practices such as building pond systems without liners and using the Holzer Monk. He has created some of the world’s best examples of using ponds as reflectors to increase solar gain for passive solar heating of structures and using the microclimate created with water and rocks to effectively change the hardiness zone for nearby plants. He has also done original work in the use of “Huegelkultur” and natural branch development instead of pruning to allow fruit trees to survive high altitudes and harsh winters. He is one of the worlds most renowned teachers and practitioners of Permaculture and Water Retention Earthworks. (Austria, Worldwide)
Rajendra Singh
India
Dr. Rajendra Singh is the founder of Tarun Bharat Sangh, and is known across the world as “The Waterman of India”. Starting as a doctor in rural Rajasthan 35 years ago, he saw how health problems were caused by drought, so he changed his focus to restoring ecosystems. 35 years later, his work and foundation has revived 7 rivers, restored water for a million people, and created tens of thousands of water bodies. He was awarded the Stockholm Water Prize in 2015. (India, Rajasthan)
Zachary Weiss
Global / United States
Protégé of revolutionary Austrian farmer Sepp Holzer, Zach is the first person to earn Holzer Practitioner certification directly from Sepp - through a rigorous two-year apprenticeship working on projects in North America and Europe. After 10 years of building Water Retention projects for clients around the world, Sepp said that there “needs to be hundreds or thousands of Zachs working around the world, millions would be better!” In that moment, the idea of Water Stories was born; so that any professional, land steward, or concerned citizen can have the same positive impact on their waters and lands.
Water Cycle Restoration Professionals
This is the next generation of Water Cycle Restoration practitioners and professionals
Tomás García Buzeta
Papudo, Valparaíso, Chile
I deeply believe that we, humans, are capable of living in harmony with the environment that surrounds us. I believe we can rectify the mistakes of the past and present, and that we can reverse our current situation. I know that this requires a lot of coordinated efforts: technical knowledge and human skills to achieve collaborative work. What I have learned in Water Stories has truly changed my perception of what is possible, and I am very grateful to have been able to join this family of water cycle restorers. I continue to learn and practice alongside my team at the AguaTierra Studies Center to bring regeneration to every corner where it is needed. Instagram: @regeneracionaguatierra
Gonzalo Prieto
South Africa
As a young architect Gonzalo’s goal was to contribute to creating a better world. Over 20 years later he has become a global architect - having worked in Spain, the United Kingdom and South Africa on large scale projects across the world. He has led international multi-disciplinary professional teams on complex infrastructure projects, such as hospitals and stadiums. However, Gonzalo realized that the impact of his work was not aligned with his aspirations - he was working with the wrong tools. In 2019 his professional path found a new purpose. In search of reconnecting with nature, he discovered natural farming, permaculture and other regenerative practices. He took a deep dive into this world, fascinated by the potential of integrating nature and people harmoniously in order to restore degrading land into thriving and biologically diverse ecosystems. In 2021 Gonzalo, and his wife Shaan, founded Wild Banana Design. Wild Banana Design is an ecological design practice that focuses on supporting thriving natural systems, biodiversity and the people through strategic design, implementation and education. Gonzalo thrives working with nature and finding harmony within its complexity. Instagram: @wildbananadesign
Noemi Nemes
Santander, Spain
Freelance researcher and consultant on sustainability, agriculture and greenwashing; passionate about large-scale water and soil restoration; worked several years for environmental organizations and for the FAO on sustainable agriculture; founder of a Polish forest school and kindergarten; promoter of nature-based education and community based reforestation events; permaculture trainer; gardener and forager; founder of Kids4Forests and DeepRoots; recent graduate of the SoilFoodWeb school; co-founder of ARC. ARC's key idea is to establish a green music festival and family-friendly music events which will be organized always in connection with workshops related to land regeneration on a degraded site which we will be restoring with keyline design and various regen ag methods. During summers, besides a big (traditional spanish and celtic) music festival we will organize survival camps and other forest school type activities for kids. We have a very good potential to receive the starting grant to kick off the whole project and are currently looking for a larger site in Asturias and collaboration with a university. ARC Regen, a branch of ARC, is a women-led company aimed at establishing a regeneration site in Asturias, Spain.
Janell Howard
Massachusetts, USA
One of my first memorable experiences with nature was working in a community garden with my children when they were little. Since then I have continued to study as much as I can about plants, soil and water and then experimented as much as I can. Now I strive to teach children, youth and adults a love of nature at a local school farm so they can help heal the earth and strive to become more self-sufficient. I teach them water restoration, water retention features, how to create living soil and how to plant and harvest vegetation from seeds. On my own property I teach workshops where I show and demonstrate what happens when water is stored in the land in healthy soils and the incredible food and beauty that can be grown from utilizing the rain we receive in our semi-arid region as well as ways to increase the water available in our area through tree planting. The Water Stories Course has helped me focus on the direction I want my business to take. Water is life.
Brian Kerkvleit
Bellingham, WA
As a co-steward of Inspiration Farm, Brian has a wide breadth of practical knowledge on how to partner with natural systems to bring forth stability and abundance. Having over 20 years of practical Permaculture experience, he now teaches and offers consultation services for others who want to fast track the establishment of resilient system on their land. Working with water in the landscape is Brian's passion and speciality. “If you get the water right everything else is easy” Brian teaches workshops and Consults on aspects of designing and living within a resilient systems that restore the ecosystem and provides for most of the food, fiber, fuel and medicine needed to live a happy healthy life. His enthusiasm to share this with a wider audience shows in all that he does. Inspiration Farm is an 11 acre homestead styled farm founded in 1994. Integrating Biodynamic and Permaculture practices in relation to annual & perennial food systems, animal husbandry, appropriate technology, land/water nutrient management. Throughout the year we have a variety of Events, Tours and Workshops.
Cristobal Ignacio Acuña Madariaga
Chile
The Water Stories course opened my vision in a way that I never thought I would reach so young, the synchronicity of being able to understand how essential it is to work with water and from there the motivation to continue expanding that knowledge, I acquired the pulse necessary to embark on fulfilling my dream and being able to live doing what I like most, helping to regenerate the environment, promoting our models and designing spaces for anyone who wants to invest in their land. Founder of Centro Micelios, an enterprise that seeks to advise projects in different public-private contexts, serve as a consultant, offer regenerative designs that include the principles of Permaculture, water retention landscapes, the syntropic agriculture of Ernst Gotsch, agroecology, that adapt to the needs of clients. In addition to being able to educate through training, workshops, talks, seminars, where we expand these philosophies that work together with nature. We are on Instagram and Facebook as @Centro_Micelios
Oliver Goshey
Barcelona, Spain
Oliver Goshey is a designer, educator, and project implementer for regenerative land based projects. After studying as a marine engineer and working mostly in trades such as commercial shipping, trail building, construction, and farming, around the world, Oliver has built a unique and wide perspective implementing projects and managing complex systems as a practitioner on the ground. Struggling to justify his participation in destructive and extractive industries, Oliver quickly shifted his focus to land stewardship and rebuilding community connections. Since then he’s applied his unique experiences from 15 years of travel to helping clients and organizations to design and build natural healthy homes, develop businesses for social equity, and restore healthy native landscapes. As a teacher Oliver is passionate about making practical and essential skills approachable to everyone and involving people from all backgrounds, skill levels, and experience to actively participate in the regeneration of the living world. He believes that everyone has unique abilities and perspectives that can form an essential part of creating a paradise here on Earth. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/regenerative_skills/
Water Cycle Restoration Stewards
This is the next generation of Water Cycle Restoration practitioners and stewards
Paul Ladeira
Sierra Nevada Foot Hills, CA
I am twenty years in on a journey studying agriculture, ecology and farm scale design. I started building creeks and dams for my garden hose as a child and was fascinated by all things in the woodlands of the Northeast where I grew up. The course was an extension of the space my heart has occupied since then. It has given me the opportunity to practice listening to and acting from an intuitive place with some very powerful results. I now have a legitimate, income producing reason to play in the mud! Currently I steward of a small piece of land in the Sierra Foothills of California we call Blue Ruby. We have built a first of its kind farmstay that is a place to learn more about creating beautiful, wild landscapes that produce food, habitat, and all of the amazing things that support life. From Blue Ruby, I work with land owners through Radicle Earth and Water Works to help them create productive, water loving landscapes. Please check us out online.
Gerhard Üblinger
Fehring, Austria
Finding a regenerative lifestyle has been my main focus in life, making me study social sciences, agriculture and building my own tiny home in the cohousing community I live in. A long journey allows me to digest all kinds of perceptions of life. After seeing some works of Sepp Holzer in Tamera I dedicated more and more of my time to water in all its forms. So I gathered first experiences in building small scale water retention, irrigation, agroforests and constructed wetlands for sewage treatment while relearning agriculture and forestry. Finding "Water Stories" filled the missing link between my practical knowledge and my fine sensations in nature. It also connected me to dozens of people around the world being on their journey with water. And supported the first big waterbody I built myself. Walking the land with all senses open, seeing its past development and its future potential presented through the land is amazing. Supporting people finding new prospering perspectives on land and water is nurturing my sense of community. Meeting other people on their path is filling my heart with gratitude. You can find me and my beloved Team on our website. You are also welcome in my place to see water retention in action and I am happy to support your Ideas with all my experience.
Laura Hoimyr
Gladmar, Saskatchewan, Canada
This course has taught me a different way of looking at the landscape, and the confidence to try making changes that benefit the land, wildlife, and our farm. My husband Mark and I hope to build a farm that is resilient in extreme weather conditions. In combination with careful grazing management that builds soil organic matter and retains water in the soil profile, we will work to capture water from melting snow or rainfall and slow its movement across the land.
Martín Jaeger Ljubetic
Estación El Alerce, La Florida, Santiago, Chile
I'm Martín, always learning and practicing. Let's come together and help life regenerate and proliferate through water. This course gave me clarity on the ideas and knowledge to put them in practice. A strong set of practical and mental tools to play the role I believe humankind has in the web of life: stimulate the processes for the proliferation of life itself.
Francisco Espinosa Silva
Santiago, Chile
I truly believe that water restoration, care and protection is a lifeform that may bring a better common future for every living beign. This includes human communities which have demonstrated that collective purposes processes bring strength, health and happiness.
Clara Santiago
Brotas, Mora, Évora, Portugal
I am an unripen apple, seeking to expand my noticing and relating to the multiplicity and complexity of the world and life’s process. I come from an artistic background and 5 years ago I started to become increasingly troubled with today’s state of the world. After joining a climate justice civil disobedience collective, I soon realized that although important, protesting and dismantling, is only one side of the necessary change, and oftentimes, if not well managed a degenerative process to engage with, so I started seeking solutions and was drawn to the possibility of being part of the co creation of fertile futures. My curiosity led me to permaculture, I also had the opportunity to be part of a non-formal pedagogical project working with children in nature based learning environments, I was then drawn towards agroecology, which I came in closer contact with, while doing a 3 month internship in Navdanya Biodiversity Farm in India. This ongoing journey of continuous learning inspired wonder towards the plant realm, which I have been seeking to deepen through the practice of herbalism. Being in a severely desertified region in Portugal, questions grew around water, and so again, led by curiosity, I decided to join the Water Stories Core course. I am part of an interdisciplinary project birthed this year. CECAI seeks to cultivate spaces of regeneration, at the social, ecological, cultural and economical levels. We want to facilitate this space mainly through residency programs that bring together fellow earthlings, members of the community, artists, ecologists, farmers, philosophers, writers, scientists, a never-ending list, as we believe in the reweaving of practices. The artistic languages are for us a significant aspect of the project. We believe in their power to create new paradigms and tune in sensible practices of observation that propose collective ways of inhabiting a moving and unequal earth. Instagram: @projectocecai
Water Cycle Restoration Advocates
This is the next generation of Water Cycle Restoration practitioners and advocates
Julia Eden
Oregon, USA
My education began in the forest. Living in the woods introduced me to the magic of water. Alpine glacial runoff filled my rivers and bathed me into new skin. Since then I have dedicated my time to recreating the wonders of the deep woods for the benefit of the Earth. I studied native plants of the Pacific Northwest under my mentor, Beth Bluemmel of Echo Valley Native Nursery, for several years, and continue to work with her on the propagation and spread of natives. But I know the Earth is a holistic system, so I went in search of an educator who could complete the picture for me. I found that practitioner in Zach Weiss, and his Water Stories Core Course. I now have the understanding and confidence to wander the landscape creating positive change. I have always been a writer and still dedicate a lot of my time to writing articles, books, and media pitches about decentralized water retention, holistic land management, and plants, but I am looking forward to working more with DIYers as well as expanding my educational offerings. I had spent years finding everything I could about Sepp Holzer and his methods when Zach Weiss announced the Water Stories Core Course. And it was so much more than I ever expected! Not only did I learn all about how to take Sepp’s ideas from theory to practice, I was also introduced to a whole world of water regeneration and holistic land management. Combining this knowledge with my plant expertise allows me to understand how the systems are meant to interact with one another, and then turn that knowledge into action. These days I’m focused on spreading information through writing and education, as well as working with DIYers on their own land projects.
Ready to Start Your Project?
Our practitioner network and certified graduates can help you restore and manage water supplies for nearly any context. Contact us and we can connect you with a practitioner that is a good fit for your project.