AWWA/WEF The Utility Management Conference™
February 16-19, 2027
Vancouver, BC, Canada
AWWA/WEF The Utility Management Conference™
Top Water Utility Leaders Gather to Share Experiences, Strategies & Insight
Each year, water utility executives and managers keep returning to the Utility Management Conference (UMC). This gathering offers forward-thinking leadership, creative strategic planning, efficient processes, and holistic approaches to ongoing improvement efforts.
Three reasons why utility leaders should attend this prestigious event:
- Gain insight from leadership peers. This conference attracts top executives and managers across all water utility departments. Get the view from the top of what is really working.
- Prepare for the future. Learn how utilities can adapt to climate change, fix aging infrastructure, achieve digital transformation, leverage funding options, and address other evolving considerations.
- Develop the next generation of utility leaders. UMC is co-located with the Young Professionals Summit and features some joint events. Do not miss this opportunity to inspire and guide future utility leaders.
Registration is Open!
Sign up before January 15 for early-bird rates!
2027 Dates & Location:
February 16-19, 2027
Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Who Attends UMC?
Utility managers and executives
CFOs and finance directors
Public works directors
Engineers and project managers
Human resource professionals
Public officials
Public relations specialists
Regulatory
Board members
Professional Program
UMC features sessions and discussions on key issues for enhancing utility operations and performance while managing risk.
The 2027 program will be available in early November 2026.
Pre-Conference Workshops
Tuesday, February 16, 2027
Workshops provide in-depth, hands-on comprehensive learning opportunities. Workshop registration does require a separate fee, and capacity is limited – so register early!
All Pre-Conference Workshops take place on Tuesday, February 16, 2027.
PCW01 – Bridging the Leadership Gap: Building a Practical Leadership Roadmap
Full Day | 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
The water sector leadership pipeline is broken. Utilities are struggling to find interested and qualified candidates for managerial and executive roles. This hands-on workshop is designed to demystify the role of leader, identify the skills needed to be a successful leader, and collaboratively develop a resource to equip rising leaders.
PCW02 – Hold Please… We’re Building Better Customer Service
Half Day | 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Learn how to successfully launch the AWWA Customer Service Certificate Program and build a culture of service excellence. Through practical planning, peer collaboration, and real-world examples, attendees will develop a business case, implementation roadmap, employee engagement strategies, and performance measures to demonstrate value and achieve lasting results.
PCW03 – Building the Water Workforce: Regional Collaboratives, Development Programs, and Career Pathway Strategies for Utility Success
Half Day | 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Utilities face growing workforce challenges, but what strategies work best? This interactive workshop draws on three WRF studies focused on regional workforce collaboratives, workforce development programs, and career progression pathways. Participants will apply practical tools and guidance to real utility scenarios and leave with actionable approaches to recruit, develop, and retain talent.
PCW04 – Financing and Implementing the Circular Water Economy
Half Day | 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Explore how utilities and water professionals can move from circular water economy concepts to implementation. This workshop examines Reduce, Recover, and Regenerate strategies, business cases, financing pathways, partnerships, and practical examples to help attendees identify opportunities and develop actionable approaches to advance circular water projects.
PCW05 – From Risk Register to Investment Decision: A Hands On Risk Analysis Workshop for Water Utilities
Full Day | 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Water utilities make critical decisions under uncertainty every day. This hands on workshop gives participants a practical process for identifying, analyzing, and prioritizing risk, evaluating treatment options, and translating results into defensible maintenance, emergency response, and capital investment decisions.
PCW06 – What Your Managers and Directors Want You to Know: Conversations on Leadership Transition
Half Day | 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Join alumni of the Transformative Water Leadership Academy for a candid conversation about leading from below the executive suite and the realities of complex organizational decisions. Through a fireside chat, facilitated roundtables, and interactive workshop activities, participants will leave with insights from emerging leaders, practical approaches for identifying and engaging future leaders.
PCW07 – Developing Municipal Infrastructure Maintenance Plans
Half Day | 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Many utilities are provided maintenance budgets and then try to complete as much maintenance as they can within that budget and with available resources. This workshop will reverse that process, by helping utilities identify the type and frequency of maintenance activities that they should be conducting in order to determine maintenance staffing and budget needs?
PCW08 – Think in Systems. Plan With Purpose: Building Utility Strategic Plans Using Systems Thinking and Continuous
Half Day | 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Explore how systems thinking and continuous improvement frameworks inform strategic planning by identifying key focus areas for your utility. These same tools support developing implementation plans for the strategies you set. Participants leave with a deeper understanding of how these frameworks make both the planning and implementation process more effective and successful.
Certificates of Completion
AWWA offers Certificates of Completion for conference sessions, via the conference mobile app. Visit awwa.org/credits to learn more.
All approvals are at the discretion of your licensing agency, and a Certificate of Completion does not guarantee that your agency will award you credit. Please check with your agency for details.
For Professional Operators:
Visit AWWA’s Operator CEUs by State webpage.
Advertisement
Improving Water For All
Become a Sponsor
Benefits of Sponsoring
The annual UMC is an unparalleled opportunity to connect directly with top utility leaders and convey your thought leadership and industry foresight.
Be sure to receive the prospectus when it becomes available.
Contact Us
Companies starting with 0-9 and A-I
Donna Walstrom – Sales Manager
303.734.3601
720.829.7851
General questions
Quick Links
Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre
1000 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2R9
The AWWA/WEF 2027 UMC will take place at this dynamic hotel in downtown Vancouver, BC, offering modern venues and rooms with city center views.
Book Your Room Today!
Vancouver is looking forward to hosting you at UMC!
Reservations at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Center are now open. The conference hotel block will remain open until Thursday, January 14, 2027 or until sold out – whichever occurs first.
Alert: AWWA is aware of multiple unauthorized organizations contacting attendees to solicit hotel rooms. For your protection, reserve hotel accommodations using only the link(s) provided by AWWA. Reservations made through any solicitor cannot be guaranteed by AWWA and could result in hidden charges, unusual restrictions, or incorrect hotel placement. You may report fraudulent activity to awwaconferences@awwa.org.
Advertisement
Presenter Resources
The 2027 UMC Call for Abstracts has closed.
The call was closed on September 10, 2026. Notifications will be sent in late fall.
Abstracts will now be reviewed in the following topics:
- Asset Management
- Communications, Public Outreach and Engagement
- Digital Transformations & AI Integration
- Emergency Planning & Response
- Financial Trends
- Leadership Stories
- Strategic Planning
- Workforce Development
- Hot Topics like Governance or Working with Data Centers
Visit AWWA’s Presentation Guide for Water Professionals page for additional guidelines, responsibilities, and best practices to aid in preparing your presentation.
“As a public utility manager, this is the best conference — with the broadest, most applicable information that I have found.”
“UMC is simply my go-to conference. The scale of this gathering is just right, and the content is a nice balance of utility and consulting perspectives. Sessions include forward-thinking research. Pre-conference workshops are excellent. Ample networking opportunities.”
Utility Management Resources from AWWA
As you prepare for UMC, we invite you to explore the wide range of relevant resources available from AWWA.
AWWA Utility Benchmarking
Utility managers can use the data and analyses in this report to determine how their utility’s performance compares to the water or wastewater industry in six areas of operations: Organizational Development, Business Operations, Customer Relations, Water Operations, Wastewater Operations, and Historical Trends.
Read More
Water and Wastewater Rate Survey
Introducing the new digital platform for accessing data on water rates! Now, you can easily compare your rates to meet revenue goals or compare with others in the area, all with just a few clicks. The updated digital platform provides a user-friendly interface, making it simple to access data on water rates from anywhere at any time.
Learn More
Focus First on Service: The Voice and Face of Your Utility Second Edition
An in-service training workbook for water utility customer service representatives.
Get the Book
M1 Principles of Water Rates, Fees, and Charges
As issues associated with water rates and charges continues to evolve, so must the utilities approach to selecting and communicating their rates, charges, and pricing policies.
Read More
M3 Safety Management for Utilities
Looking for actionable tools in developing a Health, Safety, and Environmental (HSE) program? Newly updated M3 Safety Management for Utilities, Eight Edition, will walk you through how to set up an effective and efficient safety plan at a utility.
Read More
M5 Water Utility Management
M5 Water Utility Management is designed for both new and experienced managers who are looking to better understand all aspects of public utility management.
Read More
Plain Talk About Drinking Water, Sixth Edition
The first edition of this book was published more than 30 years ago. The goal of that book was to provide explanations for some of the questions that surround drinking water. Where does my tap water come from? How is it treated? Why does ice float? And to explain these things and more, in simple but factual language—using “plain talk.”
Read More
Customer Service Training Program — Facilitator Handbook 3-Day Bundle
AWWA’s Customer Service Training Program provides both facilitator guidebooks and corresponding student guidebooks to complete on-site, face-to-face training.
Read More
M19 Emergency Planning for Water and Wastewater Utilities
This manual presents an all-hazards approach for principles, practices, and guidelines in water utility emergency planning.
Read More
M29 Water Utility Capital Financing
Planning and obtaining financing for water utility capital projects. This edition addresses both traditional and innovative utility financing alternatives to meet both short-and long-term capital requirements.
Read More
M47 Capital Project Delivery
This manual describes a variety of project delivery methods and provides guidance to utility managers, project engineers, and buyers for managing any size construction project.
Read More
Pretreatment Pocket Field Guide
Designed for field use by water operators, this pocket-sized guide provides operational information on mixing, coagulation, and sedimentation processes in water treatment.
Read More
Total Water Management: Practices for a Sustainable Future
Total water management is the exercise of stewardship and shared governance of water resources among utilities, business, and government for the greatest good of society and the environment.
Read More
The Water Workforce: Strategies for Recruiting and Retaining High-Performance Employees
The most important resources at any utility are human resources. People make all the difference in the success or failure of your utility’s operation. Managing utility workforce issues is the focus of this practical handbook for water utility human resources employees.
Get the Book
Utility Management for Water and Wastewater Operators
An introduction to water utility management principles and practices for new managers, as well as anyone who wishes to move into utility management.
Read More
The American Water Works Association and the Water Environment Federation.
Advertisement
Conference Registration Cancellation Policy: AWWA must receive cancellations in writing. Phone cancellations are not accepted. All cancellations dated on or before early-bird pricing deadline will receive a refund, minus a 25% administrative fee. After the early-bird pricing deadline, cancellations will not be refunded; however, substitute registrants are welcome. Email requests for substitutions or cancellations to service@awwa.org.
