(September 11, 2019) – NACWA hosted a Colorado Utility Executive Forum on September 5 at member utility the City of Aurora’s Binney Water Purification Facility, bringing together 34 individuals from over 16 public utilities for a day long discussion on issues critical to Colorado and the region.

The meeting provided an opportunity for utility leaders to hear from one another on a variety of state challenges and opportunities ranging from capacity and supply issues, reuse, emerging contaminants like PFAS, technology and innovation, and resiliency.

Forum participants also heard from Ayn Schmidt, the Water Policy Advisor for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Region 8 office.  Schmidt gave an overview and update on many of the regulatory policies NACWA has been most involved in – from nutrients and harmful algal blooms to integrated planning and EPA’s office of ombudsman under development to insight on EPA’s new National Water Reuse Action Plan.

NACWA affiliate member Tetra Tech sponsored the Forum and provided perspectives on variety of resiliency issues emerging from last year’s America’s Water Infrastructure Act’s requirement for public water utilities to develop risk and resilience assessments and emergency response plans over the next year. Speakers provided insights on best practices and resiliency trends stemming from natural disasters, cybersecurity, and physical threats and terrorism.

NACWA would like to thank Dan Mikesell and the City of Aurora for hosting the event, and NACWA Board Member Mickey Conway with Denver Metro and NACWA’s former president, Ray Marshall, for helping to facilitate the discussions.