About the Event

The theme of the 2024 Next Generation Water Summit is "Solutions in a Changing World".

The Next Generation Water Summit brings together the building and development community, water reuse professionals and water policymakers in a collaborative setting to share best practices and learn about innovative water conservation and water reuse techniques that can be used to comply with water conservation restrictions spreading across the southwest.

Agenda

time icon06/20/2024 11:00 am

THURSDAY KEYNOTE: Solutions in a Changing World

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David Sedlak
Author, Engineer

Grim news reports—of empty reservoirs, withering crops, failing ecosystems—need not be cause for despair, argues award-winning author David Sedlak. Sedlak identifies the challenges that society faces, including ineffective policies and outdated infrastructure, and the myriad of tools at our disposal—from emerging technologies in desalination to innovations for recycling wastewater and capturing more of the water that falls on fields and cities. He offers an informed and hopeful approach for rethinking our assumptions about the way that water is managed. With this knowledge we can create a future with clean, abundant, and affordable water for all.

time icon06/20/2024 11:00 am

Water Use in a Commercial Greenhouse

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Gab Smith

time icon06/20/2024 11:45 am

PANEL: WERS, EPA and HERSh2o Outdoor Water Use - What is the Difference

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Jonah Schein
National Program Manager

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Laureen Blissard
Technical Director

time icon06/20/2024 12:00 pm

PANEL: Accelerating Water Wise Landscape Transformation in the Colorado River Basin

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Lindsay Rogers - Moderator
Policy Manager for Municipal Conservation

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Carlos Bustos
Water Conservation Program Manager

This session reviews approaches in Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico to accelerate water-wise landscaping transformation. From legislative wins to community turfgrass mapping efforts to robust incentive programs, speakers will discuss their progress thus far, challenges along the way, and new opportunities to explore as the West transitions away from non-functional cool season turfgrass and towards native and drought-tolerant plants and grasses.

time icon06/20/2024 01:00 pm

Commercial Water Efficiency

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Michelle Maddaus
Civil Engineer

time icon06/20/2024 01:30 pm

PANEL: Educating the Next Generation

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Paul Bishop
President and CEO

time icon06/21/2024 01:45 pm

Envisioning a Water Future: Modular, Adaptive and Decentralized

time icon06/21/2024 08:30 am

FRIDAY KEYNOTE: Journey to Water Conservation

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Gary Klein
President

Reflecting on his journey into the field of water conservation and efficiency, Gary Klein draws inspiration from experiences in Lesotho, the California Energy Commission, and others. In many parts of the world, water conservation is driven by necessity not by desire. Yet across the United States, millions of gallons of water and BTUs of energy are lost due to structural and behavioral waste. Gary offers a retrospective on how he became interested in the potential for a more water efficient future.

time icon06/21/2024 09:00 am

Water Savings from the Demand Calculator

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Christoph Lohr
Vice President of Technical Services and Research

time icon06/21/2024 10:00 am

New Residential Water Savings: Theoretical to Practical

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Darrell Lehman
President

This session will guide Regulatory and Government Agencies, Utilities, and building stakeholders through a transformative journey from theoretical frameworks to actionable, practical solutions in water efficiency compliance. Lehman will emphasize the ease of implementing water efficiency certifications and interlace innovative approaches from Triconic with broader goals of enhancing energy and water efficiency compliance. The session bridges the gap between generic regulations and nuanced requirements in modern homebuilding, advocating for innovation.

time icon06/21/2024 10:30 am

Blackwater to Potable - A Regulator's View of The Next Big Push

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Darrin Polhemus
Deputy Director

What do you need to consider when planning to regulate the treatment of wastewater for delivery as safe drinking water? We will review the steps California took in adopting its Direct Potable Reuse regulations and why this is an important part of a climate resilient water source for some California water systems.

time icon06/21/2024 02:00 pm

Potable Rainwater Harvesting - The Real Science

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Sarah Sojka
Associate Professor of Physics and Environmental Studies

Research on the water quality in rainwater harvesting systems often focuses on a single system, making broad conclusions about water quality and the effectiveness of water treatment difficult. Dr. Sojka will synthesize available research on the quality of harvested rainwater and available treatment techniques for potable water. The presentation will examine pre-tank treatment, in-tank processes, and post-tank treatment. The findings from the scientific literature will be compared to potable rainwater harvesting guidelines and key gaps in the available research will be identified.

time icon06/21/2024 02:45 pm

Why WERS? Why Now?

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Mike Collignon
Executive Director

time icon06/20/2024 11:00 am

Water-Energy-Carbon Footprint: A Case Study

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Jonah Schein
National Program Manager

time icon06/21/2024 10:00 am

Water and Energy Savings from the Demand Calculator

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Christoph Lohr

Right-sizing of water systems offers the opportunity to promote water conservation, energy reduction, while lowering construction costs and potentially improving water quality.  In this presentation, we will provide a broad base overview of the benefits of right-sizing water systems via the Water Demand Calculator, and then focus on the water and energy savings available by right-sizing by looking at a variety of prototype buildings, and place right-sizing in the greater context of water conservation measures.

time icon06/21/2024 11:00 am

AI Role in Water: Today & Tomorrow

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Victoria Edwards

time icon06/21/2024 10:00 am

PANEL: Taking Water Seriously

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Adam DeHeer

time icon06/20/2024 12:00 pm

Building Commercial Net Zero Water

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Shayla Woodhouse

time icon06/20/2024 10:00 am

Innovative Product Panel

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Adam DeHeer

time icon06/21/2024 10:00 am

Components of a Great Water Conservation Program

time icon06/21/2024 11:00 am

Panel: What's Going On With Water?

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Christine Chavez

time icon06/21/2024 12:00 pm

New Mexico Water History - A Primer

time icon06/21/2024 09:00 am

New Mexico Legislative Update

time icon06/21/2024 09:00 am

State Water Funding