Water 2050 is a collaborative initiative led by AWWA to envision the future of water and chart a course for success and sustainability.
In an effort to bring together diverse voices to explore the water community’s long-term challenges and opportunities, AWWA is hosting a series of think tanks with influential thinkers from within and outside the water sector to examine water’s future through the prism of five core drivers: sustainability, technology, economics, governance and social/demographics.
The first of the think tanks convened in September 2022 and focused on sustainability. Participants engaged in facilitated small and large group conversations, private reflection and panel discussions to imagine the future of water and develop a set of recommended actions. The group included highly respected voices from the water and wastewater utility and consulting community, academia, regulatory agencies and the beverage industry, as well as those with interests in agriculture, climate science, environmental advocacy, and innovation incubators, among others.
Recommended Actions
Participants emerged with 10 recommended actions encompassing four broad categories:
The second think tank was held in December and focused on technology. Participants included representatives from the water and wastewater utility, manufacturing and consulting communities; innovation incubators, Silicon Valley thought leaders, privacy and cybersecurity experts, regulators and academics, CEOs and an agriculture research hydrologist.
The group developed recommended actions grouped into four broad categories:
A diverse group of influential thinkers from within and outside the water community put forth nine recommendations for an economically sustainable water future in the third think tank report of the Water 2050 initiative.
The 26 participants in the Water 2050 Economics Think Tank, which took place Jan. 23-25, 2023, at the Penn Club in New York City, included highly respected voices from the water and wastewater utility, manufacturing and consulting community, as well as regulators and academics, CEOs and climate advocates and infrastructure and financial services experts. The group engaged in a series of facilitated discussions and developed recommended actions that can be grouped into three broad categories:
While the recommended actions are bold, participants acknowledged they are a starting point. They are a promising foundation from which to chisel more detailed actions through future think tanks and other contributions to the Water 2050 initiative.