2025 Annual Conference
*You must first create a user profile for each attendee you register!
UWI Annual Conference
Join us August 20-22, 2025, at the Urban Water Institute’s 2025 Annual Conference in San Diego, California!
Leading experts will deliver presentations on today’s most pressing water management issues, representing a broad range of expertise and non-partisan perspectives. Conference highlights include enhanced networking opportunities, access to keynote speakers, meals and happy hours included with your Conference registration.
UWI Conferences bring together elite water leaders from throughout California representing public, private, nonprofit and academic organizations. This conference is sure to be one of the best water conferences of the year!
Annual Conference Registration
Online registration is now open for UWI's 2025 Annual Conference.
Please note: You will need a user account to begin the registration process. If you are registering multiple attendees, each attendee will need a profile with a unique email address. You can create additional user profiles in your Member Compass under the People tab. Please contact us if you do not see this tab so that we can give you management access on your account.
A printed registration form is also available (upon request) if you are unable to register online.
Cancellation Policy: Event registration cancellations will be accepted until 8/8/25 and will be subject to a $50 processing fee. Cancellations received after 8/8/25 are not eligible for refund.
Annual Conference Agenda
The 2025 Annual Conference Agenda is currently in development. Once finalized, it will be available through the Agenda tab above. If you have suggestions for future conference speakers or topics, please use the Contact Us form to submit your ideas.
"UWI epitomizes authenticity. Thought-provoking programs planned by insightful water leaders with an eye toward pushing the envelope (and some buttons)."
- Sean Fitzgerald, Owner, Vox Civic Communications
Annual Conference Date & Time
The UWI 2025 Annual Conference dates and times are as follows:
- Conference begins: Wednesday, August 20, 2025 at 1:00 PM
- Conference ends: Friday, August 22, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Annual Conference Location
Paradise Point Resort & Spa
1404 Vacation Rd
San Diego, CA 92109
858.240.4913
UWI Hotel Room Block - Available now!
A limited number of discounted hotel rooms are available to UWI Conference attendees. We recommend booking your room early to access the group block. If you have any issues booking your hotel room, please contact our Events Director, Paula Currie: events@urbanwater.com.
Conference Sponsorship Opportunities
Sponsorships and exhibitor opportunities are now available for our 2025 Annual Conference. Please visit our Sponsorship page for more information. Thank you to our sponsors!
Agenda
| August 20 | |
| 1:00 PM - 1:15 PM | Welcome: Native American Tribal Blessing |
| 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM | Opening Keynote: Peggy Browne, Office of Water's Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator |
| 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM |
Coping with Cybersecurity Risk: Interactive Dialogue with National, State & Regional Experts
Top level experts engage in a dynamic discussion about public agencies’ challenges in preventing, managing and responding to cybersecurity attacks. Leading perspectives from the State of California, the American Water Works Association and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California will share their stories. This program will be facilitated by a private sector advocate and provider. |
| 3:30 PM - 4:00 PM | Break |
| 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM |
Running Toward Risk: Water Systems in the Line of Fire
When flames tore through the foothills during the Eaton Fire, water systems were thrust into crisis mode. This panel dives into the first 48 hours from the ignition point—when communication gaps, infrastructure stress, and institutional uncertainty collided with real-time decisions. Join water leaders and emergency responders as we dissect the risks we underestimated, the improvisations that worked, and the strategies that must define our future. |
| 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM |
Opening Reception
Conference registrants enjoy complimentary cocktails and hors d'oeuvres during a hosted onsite reception. |
| August 21 | |
| 8:00 AM - 8:45 AM |
Breakfast Buffet
Conference registrants enjoy a complimentary breakfast buffet onsite at the hotel. |
| 8:45 AM - 10:00 AM |
Risk & Resolve: How Water Conflicts Can Find Peace Through Collaboration
Water disputes don’t often end in handshakes, but in two very different cases (one in groundwater; one in wastewater), longstanding, high-stakes conflicts were ultimately resolved without litigation. Hear firsthand how diverse agencies overcame mistrust, legal complexity, and economic disparities to forge durable agreements. Panelists share the conditions that made consensus possible, the techniques used to build trust, and the frameworks other agencies can replicate. |
| 10:00 AM - 10:20 AM | Break |
| 10:20 AM - 12:15 PM |
Security and Sustainability: Generational Investments in Times of Fiscal Constraints
The Colorado River Aqueduct was funded by a bond issue of $220 million approved by voters in 1931. Even during the Great Depression, priority was placed on constructing an aqueduct capable of lifting more than 1,600 cubic feet of water per second to a static height of 1,600 feet as it travels over several desert mountain ranges. The wisdom of that investment is recognized today. What are the generational investments needed today? |
| 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM |
Lunch
Conference registrants enjoy a complimentary plated lunch onsite at the hotel. |
| 1:45 PM - 3:00 PM |
Financial Risks: What Do the Credit Rating Agencies & Investors Look At?
This panel focuses on what the credit rating entities and investors look at. Expert speakers will provide insights into how to best position your agency for infrastructure financing. |
| 3:00 PM - 3:20 PM | Break |
| 3:20 PM - 3:50 PM |
People Power to Manage Risks: Leadership Durability, Mentorship / Coaching for Sustainability
This will be a facilitated dialogue to explore with the audience the people power to manage risks. Discussion topics include leadership durability, mentorship, and coaching for sustainability. |
| 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM |
Successful Risk-Based Communications – How to Tell the Story Without Freaking People Out
A panel of experts will share how to tell a risk-based story to the public without freaking them out. |
| 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM |
Board Chair's Reception
Conference registrants enjoy complimentary cocktails and hors d'oeuvres during a hosted onsite reception. |
| August 22 | |
| 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM |
Breakfast
Conference registrants enjoy a complimentary breakfast buffet onsite at the hotel. |
| 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM |
Closing Keynote: Deven Uphadyay, General Manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Invited)
Conversation-style discussion with questions from the audience. |
| 10:55 AM - 10:55 AM | Conference Adjourns |
The UWI 2025 Annual Conference will take place at the Paradise Point Resort & Spa in San Diego, California.
Paradise Point Resort & Spa
1404 Vacation Rd
San Diego, CA 92109
858.240.4913
UWI Room Block Reservation Link
A limited number of discounted hotel rooms are available to UWI Conference attendees. We recommend booking your room early to access the group block. If you have any issues booking your hotel room, please contact our Events Director, Paula Currie: events@urbanwater.com.
IMPORTANT:
In order to register attendees for the upcoming UWI Conference, each attendee must have a user profile (with unique email address).
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