Clean Water Current

(December 5, 2017) – NACWA members joined hundreds of public and private water utility representatives, technology providers, and regulators, among others at the American Water Summit, in Austin, TX, on November 29 - 30, to discuss a range of water-related issues—with a focus on ways for public and private interests to better collaborate.

NACWA has partnered with Global Water Intelligence to convene the Summit for the past several years, and the 2017 Summit did not disappoint in terms of productive roundtable dialogues, thoughtful panel discussions and an unparalleled opportunity for public and private water interests to share experiences and explore solutions to the common challenges facing everyone in the water sector.

NACWA President Cathy Gerali, District Manager for the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District in Denver, CO, provided opening remarks to begin the Summit. The opening plenary session featured insights from Yvonne Forest, Deputy Director for NACWA Member the City of Houston, on the impacts and recovery from Hurricane Harvey, and brief comments from Alex Herrgott, Associate Director for Infrastructure for the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality, on what we can expect from the administration’s infrastructure package.

As usual, the Summit featured multiple tracks on issues ranging from emerging technologies, smart water, disaster recovery and resiliency and public-private partnerships. Members of NACWA’s Board of Directors and representatives from several other NACWA Member Agencies spoke throughout the program. NACWA also co-chaired a pre-conference workshop on private finance. Next year’s Summit will be October 24-26, 2018 in Philadelphia.