Visionary water utility leaders from around the country will come together to discuss what utilities must be doing now to prepare for the future and how their own utilities are taking proactive steps forward.
Texas House Speaker Phelan and Evan Smith, co-founder and CEO of The Texas Tribune, will sit down for a one-on-one to discuss Texas water policy and explore the past, present, and future of water in the state with a focus on flood.
Regional flood planning group chairs will discuss their progress so far, challenges, needs, next steps, and expectations.
Improving access to data and enabling open exchange of water information are critical to identifying, understanding, and mitigating existing water resource and flood issues. This panel will discuss the current state and need for flood and open water data platforms, organizations moving the needle in this space, and the future of open data.
Safeguarding a community from flood requires city-wide preparation from the ground up. Panelists will discuss what can be done preemptively to mitigate flooding in Texas, such as land-use policies, codes, building standards, watershed protection planning, and other factors to consider as part of flood planning efforts.
Managing stormwater is a concern for communities around the state. And at the top of the list of challenges is how to pay for new stormwater solutions. Panelists will discuss that concern and some of the innovative financial approaches being used in Texas and elsewhere.
Communities throughout the world are incorporating nonstructural solutions into their flood mitigation strategies. Panelists will discuss the pros and cons of green solutions as they relate to the environment, financial impact, and overall well-being of a community.
In an age where everything is “smart,” from home appliances to self-driving cars, it makes sense that water utilities are jumping onboard to invest in smart metering systems. But what do utilities have to show for this investment? Panelists will share their implementation stories and how they’re using the data to drive decisions.
The next phase of GIS technology and artificial intelligence is always in development. Panelists will discuss what’s on the horizon for GIS in the coming years as it relates to flood, water planning, and disaster response.
Panelists will share their expertise and experience as it relates to cybersecurity in the water industry. Attendees will learn about types of threats and how to protect against them, resources and tools available, and recent legislation’s impact on communities.
With myriad technologies on the market to help utilities with everything from data acquisition and integration to customer interaction and billing, what should utilities actually consider implementing? In this panel, technology leaders will share their insights into tools and resources that will benefit water utilities long beyond the next version update.
As is the case with everything, especially groundwater in Texas, there are two sides to every story. This session will feature panelists with differing viewpoints of how groundwater permits should be allocated and will also address ways in which these viewpoints impact other areas of groundwater in Texas.
The technology industry in Texas drives innovation and economic expansion and, like all businesses, requires water. Representatives from high-tech companies will explore why water sustainability is important and what their companies are doing to conserve this resource.
The water industry faces significant staffing challenges in years to come as much of its workforce enters into retirement. Promoting the water sector as a desirable career path must start now. Panelists will discuss academic, trade, and training avenues to meet this need.
The growing interest in environmental, social, and governance bonds in recent years is impacting both investors and utilities. In this session, panelists will discuss their experiences investing in and issuing these bonds and provide insight into why more water providers are turning to green bonds to achieve their sustainable development strategies.
The fracking boom in Texas has served as a powerful economic engine for the state. It has also introduced complex issues about water transfers and storage. This panel will explore the challenges of the water needed and used in the oil and gas industry.
Thanks to ongoing cycles of drought and flood, Texas faces the perpetual contradiction of water scarcity and water surplus. Given these changing conditions, how do we ascertain the true value of water? Panelists will explore this question and discuss how that value changes over time and how it is recognized by various water stakeholders.
Water industry and public relations experts will discuss the importance of creating purposeful, trustworthy identities for water organizations. Panelists will share lessons learned, rebranding results, and why branding matters for customer relations.
Sanitary sewer overflows, boil water notices, water main breaks, cybersecurity breaches, natural disasters—just a few types of crises that utilities must be prepared to deal with every day. In this panel, water utility representatives and crisis communications experts will discuss their experiences and best practices for successfully navigating a crisis.
This panel will examine the science behind how our brains process information and why storytelling is an effective tool to capture your customers’ attention and drive behavior and attitude changes. Panelists will discuss how the water industry can benefit from these scientific findings and use them to drive more effective customer communications.
Social media is always on and requires constant monitoring. It can be a utility’s best friend or biggest foe. This panel will focus on social media best practices, successful social media communication by utilities to stakeholders, and an overview of the current social media landscape as it relates to the water industry.