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.

agenda

Click here to learn more about our speakers.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 5

noon
registration

1 P.M.
WELCOME & OPENING REMARKS

1:20 P.M.
connecting the dots: climate, Commerce & Data

A special recorded conversation with Jaclyn Porfilio, senior policy advisor to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. Porfilio will discuss the intersection of climate, commerce and data. For example, the White House recently announced a new interactive portal that will help communities — and businesses — predict how climate change will affect them. Porfilio will also discuss the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed earlier this year and its role in building a “climate-ready” economy, particularly in regards to water.

1:50 P.M.
WATER INNOVATION & STEWARDSHIP IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Hear what leading North American and international companies 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
• Ed Ferguson, chief sustainability officer, BlueTriton Brands

3:30 p.m.
break

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?

5:15 P.M.
RECEPTION

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

THURSDAY, OCT. 6

7:45 a.m. breakfast

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

8:50 A.M.
from phuket to milwaukee: meeting water  challenges together

Learn about the Water Smart Engagements (WiSE) Program pairing five Southeast Asian cities with U.S. communities for collaborative innovation and exchanges and hear from Graisorn Mahamad from Phuket, Thailand, Milwaukee’s sister city in the program.

9:10 A.M.
WATER’S ROLE IN NATIONAL SECURITY

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
• Dale Kooyenga, U.S. Army Civil Affairs & Psychological Operations Command (Airborne)

10:20 A.M.
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 surrounding emerging contaminants. What are the most promising remediation solutions? Who should be held responsible for remediation? 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? Here from experts:

• Maile Lono-Batura, director of sustainable biosolids programs, Water Environment Federation
• Timothy Repas, co-founder and president of Fixed Earth Innovations
• Mark White, vice president, CDM Smith

11:30 a.m.
break

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. What happens when economic development butts heads with 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

2:15 P.M.
CLOSING REMARKS

Click here to learn more about the brew 2.0 post-accelerator & the companies that are pitching at the summit.

2022 sponsors

platinum

gold

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silver

bronze

Our thanks to Baker Water Systems, Beckhoff Automation, Cimbria Capital, Hydraloop,
IXOM Watercare, The Nature Conservancy, ORIN Technologies, Ramboll, Rockwell Automation 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.