To build a more water-resilient world, we must think differently—about nature, about infrastructure, and about our place in the water cycle.
This year’s 2025 Next Generation Water Summit brought together professionals from across the water, building, and policy sectors to share forward-thinking strategies for thriving in a time of rapid growth, prolonged drought, and accelerating climate extremes. The urgency was palpable—but so was the optimism. From emerging technologies and smart metering to tribal leadership and nature-based solutions, the Summit was a call to action: Think bigger. Work together. Build smarter.
As Mike Collignon, Executive Director of the Green Builder Coalition, aptly stated, “Keep moving the conversation forward, moving the bar higher, and making us all think about what’s next.”
Bold Leadership Rooted in Culture, Collaboration
Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland opened the Summit with a stirring call to action, grounded in both personal experience and national policy. She recounted her childhood in Mesquite, N.M.—hauling buckets of water for her grandmother—and the lessons that were instilled in her about the value of water, especially in dryland communities.
As climate change accelerates and drought tightens its grip on the Southwest, Haaland emphasized that true resilience requires bold, inclusive leadership. “Even with the uncertainty of today,” she said, “the future remains bright—and it remains ours.”
Drawing on her leadership during the Investing in America agenda, Haaland outlined major investments: $500 million in water infrastructure, $60 million for Rio Grande resilience, and inclusion of tribal voices in Colorado River negotiations—allowing traditional knowledge to shape modern solutions like solar-covered irrigation canals.
But progress, she warned, is fragile. “Cuts, cuts, cuts—that’s all they do,” she said of ongoing political threats to environmental protections. The path forward requires continued investment in groundwater management, stormwater capture, and contamination cleanup, as well as listening deeply to frontline communities.
Her remarks grounded the rest of the Summit: The fight for water justice is about people, ecosystems, and generational survival.
Conservation Strategies in Action
Robin Grantham of Florida’s water management district shared the state’s challenge: explosive growth and a false sense of water abundance. With 90% of water pulled from a limited aquifer and new $800 million desalination infrastructure underway, proactive conservation is critical.
Her solution? The Florida Water Star program—now required by ordinance in 18 municipalities—focuses on system-level conservation in new construction: WaterSense-labeled fixtures, micro-irrigation, smart landscaping, and 30% tree shade. The results? Homes save 48,000 gallons of water and $530 annually. With over 66,000 homes expected to comply, that’s a projected 3 billion gallons saved.
Meanwhile, in Austin, Katherine Jashinski detailed the utility’s push to diversify its water sources over a 100-year plan. After stakeholder meetings, Austin implemented phased ordinances to promote water reuse, targeting large commercial and multifamily buildings.
The city invested $2 million in a demonstration project that captures rainwater, condensate, and even blackwater to show what’s possible. Despite initial resistance, a combination of incentives and regulations has helped propel smart, resilient design in new developments.
But that “magic” is fraying. With centralized systems under strain from climate extremes, population growth, and aging infrastructure, the water sector must evolve to meet these challenges. The linear supply-to-waste model is outdated. The future demands decentralized solutions, demand-side management, and digital tools for smarter infrastructure.
Ajami urges that utilities must embrace flexibility and rethink what qualifies as infrastructure, adding digital monitoring, AI forecasting, and nature-based solutions, such as marshlands and watershed protection, to their toolbox.
She emphasized that water demand has now decoupled from population growth, thanks to conservation efforts, but modern utilities must do more. They need to be redesigned to work with nature, not against it.
That means embracing smart indoor reuse (like gray water for toilet flushing), rethinking outdoor landscaping, and shifting from supply-side solutions to demand management. Demand must come first, she emphasized, or we risk building unneeded supply. “Our infrastructure is evolving. Our utilities need to evolve with it.”
Most compelling was the call to shift water utilities from top-down providers to participatory partners—equipping citizens to manage their own water cycles.
Building Water Resilience
Jacob Atalla, VP of Sustainability at KB Home, brought a builder’s voice to the discussion, emphasizing the balance between sustainability and affordability. “If builders don’t pay attention to water stress,” he said, “we risk becoming obsolete.”
KB Home builds primarily in the U.S. Sunbelt—regions highly vulnerable to drought. The company has constructed over 26,000 WaterSense and Water Smart homes, saving an estimated 2.1 billion gallons annually. Using systems like PEX piping, drought-tolerant landscaping, and the HERS H2O rating tool, they measure and manage water efficiency from the ground up.
Atalla shared how changing lot sizes, smart plumbing design, and whole-home systems can help municipalities and builders co-create water resilience. “To manage water, we need to measure it. And now, we have the yardsticks.”
He also noted policy momentum, like how Tucson uses rebates to reward builders, while Phoenix uses mandates. Either way, the trend is clear: sustainable and water-efficient homes aren’t optional—they’re essential.
Reconnecting with the Water Cycle
Similarly, Joaquin Murrieta-Saldivar, Cultural Ecologist Director at the Watershed Management Group, challenged attendees to reflect deeply on what “comfort” means in a time of change. The idea of the “natural city” emerged—one where human systems mimic ecological ones.
He emphasized that we must recognize that we don’t get new water—only the same molecules recycled endlessly since Earth’s creation. “Nature is suffering right now, climates are changing, rain patterns are changing,” he notes, as he poses the question: with those stressors, how do we learn to be resilient, and what is the “new comfort” we need to look at?
To adapt, cities need to incorporate practices such as rain gardens, composting toilets, graywater systems, and habitat restoration into their urban landscapes.
Murrieta-Saldivar invoked Indigenous traditions and the work of eco-artists, urging that healing begins when we give back to the system, rather than just taking from it. In his words: “We must be a part of the water cycle, not apart from it.”
From Gadgets to Game-Changers
Throughout the summit, several products were introduced for their advancements in the water space. The product panel offered proof that high-tech doesn't have to mean high-impact. Leading solutions included:
RainStick Shower: Uses real-time UV filtration to recycle water during use, saving up to 80% of water and energy without sacrificing pressure or cleanliness.
Water Catchment Technologies: Captures rain on solar arrays with gutter systems, turning clean energy fields into water-harvesting systems.
OMGEN: Experimental but fascinating, with tools that restructure water chemistry and add probiotics, aiming to restore gut and planetary health. Solutions for cleaning large bodies of water very quickly and efficiently with zero discharge and zero energy footprint
Solar Hot Water: Almost ⅓ of the water used in residential homes is heated. By combining solar energy production with water heating, we achieve greater efficiency and savings.
MOEN Flo: Homeowners can monitor their water usage, detect small leaks in their pipes, and automatically shut off their water supply before a catastrophic leak damages their home.
These systems represent a shift in thinking: from single-use to circular, from passive plumbing to interactive, intelligent design.
Moving Forward with a New Water Ethic
The 2025 Next Generation Water Summit was more than a technical conference. It was a reminder that water isn’t just a resource, but a relationship that we, as humans, need to cultivate.
In the face of mounting climate extremes, aging infrastructure, and rising demand, the 2025 Next Generation Water Summit delivered a clear message: to build a more water-resilient world, we must think differently—about nature, about infrastructure, and about our place in the water cycle.
Samantha is able to express her passion for the environment -- both natural and built -- as the special projects manager at Green Builder Media. Prior to joining the Green Builder Media team, she worked as an order management specialist at C.A. Fortune, a consumer brands agency. She is a recent graduate of the Master in Environmental Management program at Western Colorado University with an emphasis on sustainable and resilient communities. Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, she is currently thriving in Gunnison, CO where she enjoys the surrounding geology, mountain biking, and skiing.
A Tidal Shift: Rethinking Water Resilience
To build a more water-resilient world, we must think differently—about nature, about infrastructure, and about our place in the water cycle.
This year’s 2025 Next Generation Water Summit brought together professionals from across the water, building, and policy sectors to share forward-thinking strategies for thriving in a time of rapid growth, prolonged drought, and accelerating climate extremes. The urgency was palpable—but so was the optimism. From emerging technologies and smart metering to tribal leadership and nature-based solutions, the Summit was a call to action: Think bigger. Work together. Build smarter.
As Mike Collignon, Executive Director of the Green Builder Coalition, aptly stated, “Keep moving the conversation forward, moving the bar higher, and making us all think about what’s next.”
Bold Leadership Rooted in Culture, Collaboration
Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland opened the Summit with a stirring call to action, grounded in both personal experience and national policy. She recounted her childhood in Mesquite, N.M.—hauling buckets of water for her grandmother—and the lessons that were instilled in her about the value of water, especially in dryland communities.
As climate change accelerates and drought tightens its grip on the Southwest, Haaland emphasized that true resilience requires bold, inclusive leadership. “Even with the uncertainty of today,” she said, “the future remains bright—and it remains ours.”
Drawing on her leadership during the Investing in America agenda, Haaland outlined major investments: $500 million in water infrastructure, $60 million for Rio Grande resilience, and inclusion of tribal voices in Colorado River negotiations—allowing traditional knowledge to shape modern solutions like solar-covered irrigation canals.
But progress, she warned, is fragile. “Cuts, cuts, cuts—that’s all they do,” she said of ongoing political threats to environmental protections. The path forward requires continued investment in groundwater management, stormwater capture, and contamination cleanup, as well as listening deeply to frontline communities.
Her remarks grounded the rest of the Summit: The fight for water justice is about people, ecosystems, and generational survival.
Conservation Strategies in Action
Robin Grantham of Florida’s water management district shared the state’s challenge: explosive growth and a false sense of water abundance. With 90% of water pulled from a limited aquifer and new $800 million desalination infrastructure underway, proactive conservation is critical.
Her solution? The Florida Water Star program—now required by ordinance in 18 municipalities—focuses on system-level conservation in new construction: WaterSense-labeled fixtures, micro-irrigation, smart landscaping, and 30% tree shade. The results? Homes save 48,000 gallons of water and $530 annually. With over 66,000 homes expected to comply, that’s a projected 3 billion gallons saved.
Meanwhile, in Austin, Katherine Jashinski detailed the utility’s push to diversify its water sources over a 100-year plan. After stakeholder meetings, Austin implemented phased ordinances to promote water reuse, targeting large commercial and multifamily buildings.
The city invested $2 million in a demonstration project that captures rainwater, condensate, and even blackwater to show what’s possible. Despite initial resistance, a combination of incentives and regulations has helped propel smart, resilient design in new developments.
From Magic to Mindfulness
A particularly eye-opening session, “Envisioning a New Water Utility,” tackled how we perceive water systems. As Newsha Ajami, Chief Strategy and Development Officer for Research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, explained, the average person views water as magic: It appears at the tap and disappears down the drain, with little consideration for the infrastructure behind it.
But that “magic” is fraying. With centralized systems under strain from climate extremes, population growth, and aging infrastructure, the water sector must evolve to meet these challenges. The linear supply-to-waste model is outdated. The future demands decentralized solutions, demand-side management, and digital tools for smarter infrastructure.
Ajami urges that utilities must embrace flexibility and rethink what qualifies as infrastructure, adding digital monitoring, AI forecasting, and nature-based solutions, such as marshlands and watershed protection, to their toolbox.
She emphasized that water demand has now decoupled from population growth, thanks to conservation efforts, but modern utilities must do more. They need to be redesigned to work with nature, not against it.
That means embracing smart indoor reuse (like gray water for toilet flushing), rethinking outdoor landscaping, and shifting from supply-side solutions to demand management. Demand must come first, she emphasized, or we risk building unneeded supply. “Our infrastructure is evolving. Our utilities need to evolve with it.”
Most compelling was the call to shift water utilities from top-down providers to participatory partners—equipping citizens to manage their own water cycles.
Building Water Resilience
Jacob Atalla, VP of Sustainability at KB Home, brought a builder’s voice to the discussion, emphasizing the balance between sustainability and affordability. “If builders don’t pay attention to water stress,” he said, “we risk becoming obsolete.”
KB Home builds primarily in the U.S. Sunbelt—regions highly vulnerable to drought. The company has constructed over 26,000 WaterSense and Water Smart homes, saving an estimated 2.1 billion gallons annually. Using systems like PEX piping, drought-tolerant landscaping, and the HERS H2O rating tool, they measure and manage water efficiency from the ground up.
Atalla shared how changing lot sizes, smart plumbing design, and whole-home systems can help municipalities and builders co-create water resilience. “To manage water, we need to measure it. And now, we have the yardsticks.”
He also noted policy momentum, like how Tucson uses rebates to reward builders, while Phoenix uses mandates. Either way, the trend is clear: sustainable and water-efficient homes aren’t optional—they’re essential.
Reconnecting with the Water Cycle
Similarly, Joaquin Murrieta-Saldivar, Cultural Ecologist Director at the Watershed Management Group, challenged attendees to reflect deeply on what “comfort” means in a time of change. The idea of the “natural city” emerged—one where human systems mimic ecological ones.
He emphasized that we must recognize that we don’t get new water—only the same molecules recycled endlessly since Earth’s creation. “Nature is suffering right now, climates are changing, rain patterns are changing,” he notes, as he poses the question: with those stressors, how do we learn to be resilient, and what is the “new comfort” we need to look at?
To adapt, cities need to incorporate practices such as rain gardens, composting toilets, graywater systems, and habitat restoration into their urban landscapes.
Murrieta-Saldivar invoked Indigenous traditions and the work of eco-artists, urging that healing begins when we give back to the system, rather than just taking from it. In his words: “We must be a part of the water cycle, not apart from it.”
From Gadgets to Game-Changers
Throughout the summit, several products were introduced for their advancements in the water space. The product panel offered proof that high-tech doesn't have to mean high-impact. Leading solutions included:
These systems represent a shift in thinking: from single-use to circular, from passive plumbing to interactive, intelligent design.
Moving Forward with a New Water Ethic
The 2025 Next Generation Water Summit was more than a technical conference. It was a reminder that water isn’t just a resource, but a relationship that we, as humans, need to cultivate.
In the face of mounting climate extremes, aging infrastructure, and rising demand, the 2025 Next Generation Water Summit delivered a clear message: to build a more water-resilient world, we must think differently—about nature, about infrastructure, and about our place in the water cycle.
By Samantha Carlin
Samantha is able to express her passion for the environment -- both natural and built -- as the special projects manager at Green Builder Media. Prior to joining the Green Builder Media team, she worked as an order management specialist at C.A. Fortune, a consumer brands agency. She is a recent graduate of the Master in Environmental Management program at Western Colorado University with an emphasis on sustainable and resilient communities. Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, she is currently thriving in Gunnison, CO where she enjoys the surrounding geology, mountain biking, and skiing.Also Read