Unifying Innovation & Stewardship
Oct. 5-6, 2022
Harley-Davidson Museum
Milwaukee, Wis., USA

We are thrilled to be holding our first in-person Water Leaders Summit since 2019! This year we will explore the link between water innovation and water stewardship. Both are critical if we hope to solve global water challenges such as scarcity, drought, flooding and contamination. Stay tuned for more details throughout the summer about our speakers and agenda.

agenda

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 5

1 P.M.
WELCOME & OPENING REMARKS

1:15 P.M.
ONE-ON-ONE CONVERSATION: MANAGING CORPORATE WATER RISK – STRENGTHENING AMERICAN COMPETITIVENESS

Speaker TBA

2 P.M.
WATER INNOVATION & STEWARDSHIP IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Hear what leading North American and international companies about are doing to mitigate water risk and embrace opportunity in the face of growing water crises such as flooding, scarcity and contamination. Featuring:

• Mark Yamauchi, sustainability strategy manager, Toyota Motor North America
• Mike Nemeth, senior advisor, agricultural and environmental sustainability, Nutrien
• Third speaker TBA

3:50 P.M.
MOVING WATER STEWARDSHIP & INNOVATION FORWARD

Engage with your peers to discuss solutions to water’s most pressing challenges. With so much experience and knowledge in the room, who knows what could come of it?

5:30 P.M.
RECEPTION

Raise a glass to a water innovation, stewardship and colleagues old and new.

THURSDAY, OCT. 6

8:30 A.M.
WATER WARRIOR OF THE YEAR AWARD

8:50 A.M.
ONE-ON-ONE CONVERSATION: WATER’S ROLE IN NATIONAL SECURITY, PART 1

Speaker TBA

9:45 A.M.
WATER’S ROLE IN NATIONAL SECURITY, PART 2

Water security is very much a matter of national security. Flooding, scarcity and lack of clean water and sanitation exacerbate the refugee crisis worldwide and weaken infrastructure in the U.S. Learn more about how water issues affect national security and how the country is responding with:

• Mark Nevitt, Emory Law professor and retired Navy officer specializing in climate and national security
• Lauren Herzer Risi, director of the Environmental Change and Security Program at the Wilson Center
• Third speaker TBA

10:40 A.M.
BEYOND PFAS: MICROCONTAMINANTS CAUSING MAJOR IMPACT

The EPA announced drinking water health advisories for four types of PFAS on June 15. This could be just the start in a wave of controversies surround emerging contaminants that will set the public and water utilities on edge. Who should be held responsible – the companies that made the chemicals or the utilities that serve water customers? How do we balance public health with the enormous cost of retrofitting drinking water utilities to test for and treat the vast array of chemicals entering our water?

NOON
LUNCH

1:10 P.M.
ECONOMIC GROWTH VS. WATER SCARCITY

In this corner, we have booming economic growth leading to rapidly growing populations and development. And in this corner, we have increasing water stress due to a river and its reservoirs drying at an alarming rate. Turns out, they are the same corner, located in the American Southwest. What happens when economic development butts heads with the one of the basic needs of life and commerce? The topic promises a fascinating discussion with:

• Kathryn Sorensen, director of research at Arizona State University’s Kyl Center for Water Policy and former director of Phoenix Water Services
• James Eklund, Denver water attorney and former director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board

2:00 P.M.
CLOSING REMARKS

2022 sponsors

platinum

gold

​

silver

bronze

Our thanks to Baker Water Systems, Beckhoff Automation, Cimbria Capital, Hydraloop,
IXOM Watercare, Ramboll and SCS Global Services.

Water Warrior of the Year Sponsor

media sponsors

You can read about the 2021 summit, held virtually, on our blog. Click here to listen to the podcast we created in 2020.