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The Water Council welcomed a new neighbor in July with the opening of Beckhoff Automation’s Milwaukee office in the Global Water Center. Beckhoff, based in Germany with U.S. headquarters in Minnesota, is a provider of advanced and open automation solutions. The 3,660-square-foot Global Water Center office includes space for sales, engineering, support and training. The office also gives the company easy access to The Water Council, helping us work together to promote innovation in freshwater technology.

I’m pleased to invite you to our second Milwaukee post-WEFTEC business development event for U.K. and European companies October 20-22. We’ve created a thought-provoking agenda to facilitate a meaningful exchange of ideas and strategies: from engaging with new, powerful panels to small group discussions featuring water specialists, state government officials, utility partners and industry C-suite executives, and, of course, through personal networking.

Water, as one of Water Leaders Summit panelists said this week, is having a moment. Our discussions this week, much like week one, couldn’t have been timelier. On Tuesday, we talked to Sara Gonzalez-Rothi, senior director for water for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, with a follow-up panel from Emilio Tenuta of Ecolab and Claudia Toussaint of Xylem. As expected, they emphasized over and over how closely water is tied to climate change.

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 know my radar is up when it comes to water, but it seems like water issues might finally be hitting critical mass with the business community and the public. Unfortunately, not a day goes by where we don’t see another major news story about water problems. Then again, when drought, climate change and increasing demand threaten the water supply of 25 million Americans, you can’t help but take notice. That’s what’s happening on the West Coast, as Lake Mead – the country’s largest reservoir – sinks to historic lows that will most likely trigger water shortages and restrictions in the coming months. As you know, those low water levels also create significant challenges to the production of needed energy for a vast area of the U.S.

Xylem has been a member of The Water Council for nearly a decade. Our partnership took a giant step forward when Xylem announced it would move its Sanitaire operations to the Global Water Center. Now Xylem is again strengthening its relationship to The Water Council as the newest sponsor of our Tech Challenge.

We’re thrilled to announce we will host Sara Gonzalez-Rothi, the first-ever senior director for water on the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), at part of our virtual Water Leaders Summit happening July 20-22 and 27-29. Read on to see the full agenda.

The weather is heating up, and so is the debate in Washington, D.C., over President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan. Infrastructure, climate change and ESG (environmental, social and governance reporting) all intersect with the issue of water. That’s why you need to attend our virtual Water Leaders Summit, presented by Baird and A. O. Smith, which will discuss all those topics over the course of six mornings July 20-22 and 27-29. Learn about our event and more in our June update.

Celebrate National Dairy Month by learning about Miltrim Farms, a dairy farm in Marathon County, Wis., that became the first farm in North America to achieve certification to the Alliance for Water Stewardship International Water Stewardship Standard.

Sometimes looking back is the best way to envision the future. I was reminded of this during a recent conversation with Xavier Amores, cluster manager at the Catalan Water Partnership (CWP) in Spain. He reminded us that it was almost time to renew our partnership, which was signed in Chicago back in 2018.