the time is now: Insights on week 1 of our water leaders summit
By Dean Amhaus, President & CEO
What a week it has been for Milwaukee! I’m talking, of course, about the first three sessions of our annual Water Leaders Summit, presented by A. O. Smith and Baird. Why, did something else happen here this week?
(I’m kidding, of course. Go Bucks!)
But seriously, even though we are holding our summit virtually this year, the discussions are stronger than ever. We started off with a conversation with Ed Sniffen, deputy director of the Hawaii Department of Transportation’s Highways Division. Sniffen is a model of working collaboratively across departments, organizations and roles for the good of the people he serves. For example, instead of automatically looking to add more roads in Hawaii to help people connect by vehicles, he’s helping lead an effort to bring more broadband connections to residents.
He’s also actively seeking solutions to prevent climate catastrophe in Hawaii’s transportation network and neighborhoods. Climate models indicate that 20% of Hawaii’s roads could be inundated by the end of the century because of erosion and rising sea levels at a cost of $15 billion. He’s looking for solutions to help people living in areas that will be inundated while also questioning further development or redevelopment in those areas. His talk made me think that we need to move beyond the idea of a “One Water” approach when working in watersheds to more of a “One Infrastructure.”
On Tuesday we welcomed Susanne DesRoches of the New York City Office of Climate Resiliency and Office of Climate and Sustainability, Aimee Flannery of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and Johnny Olson of Horrocks Engineers and Move Colorado. They offered terrific insight into not just planning transportation networks to adjust to climate change but also changing mindsets to make communities more climate resilient. They made me think that with all of the advanced technology and artificial intelligence at our fingertips to create complex modeling, we can no longer build our roads or water systems with today’s models but instead with an eye to the future built environment and, more importantly, future climate change that encompasses more or less water.
On Wednesday we switched gears to ESG – environmental, social and governance reporting – with Julie Gorte, senior vice president for sustainable investing at Impax Asset Management, and Pat Ackerman, senior vice president for corporate responsibility at A. O. Smith Corporation. Bloomberg estimates ESG assets could exceed $50 trillion by 2025, more than a third of projected total assets under management. But tracking the data underlying those investments can be tricky without mandatory disclosures and industry-wide definitions, Gorte said. That’s why it’s important for companies to publicly announce goals and disclose their progress toward them, Ackerman added. They agreed that water stewardship is a high priority for industries that use large amounts of water, such as food and beverage, for purposes of risk management and reputation management. Gorte and Ackerman stated that it may be daunting for some companies to improve their water stewardship, but it is absolutely OK to start slow and grow. Better to do something instead of nothing.
And that’s just the first week! It’s not too late to register, and when you do, you’ll receive recordings of the first week’s sessions plus access to the remaining sessions. Click here for more information.
Meanwhile, here’s a look at next week’s line-up:
- Tuesday: Sara Gonzalez-Rothi made history as the White House’s first adviser focused solely on water, serving as senior director for water on the Council on Environmental Quality, which advises the President on climate change and coordinates the federal government’s efforts to improve, preserve and protect America’s environment. She’ll tell us where water stewardship and water technology fit into the administration’s plans as the U.S. gets serious about climate change. Afterward, Emilio Tenuta, Ecolab’s senior vice president for corporate responsibility, and Claudia Toussaint, chief sustainability officer at Xylem, will offer their response from a sustainable business perspective.
- Wednesday: The world watched, stunned, as a historic snowstorm knocked out power and water for millions of Texans for days or even weeks. Carol Haddock, director of Houston Public Works, and Steve Clouse, COO of the San Antonio Water System, walk us through those harrowing days and discuss what they learned and what needs to be done to prepare for more extreme weather events caused by climate change.
- Thursday: Although the worst of the pandemic appears to be over, we’re finding there is no “getting back to normal,” especially when it comes to the workplace. Workers are demanding employers take their needs into consideration, including health and safety in the workplace, and consumers are demanding companies prioritize sustainability. Water technology and stewardship have a role to play on both sides. Matt Howard, The Water Council’s vice president of water stewardship and director of the Alliance for Water Stewardship North America, talks to Rodolfo Perez of the International WELL Building Institute and Patrick Boyle, director of corporate sustainability at Sloan Valve Company, about making buildings healthy in a post-pandemic wo