Solutions to some of the world’s biggest water challenges are taking shape through collaboration at the local level.
At a World Water Day gathering at the Reservoir Center in Washington, D.C., leaders from across industry, advocacy, and government highlighted how convening the right people—across sectors and perspectives—is accelerating progress on water quality, scarcity, affordability, and resilience.
The focus was not just on challenges, but on how they’re being addressed: creating neutral spaces to collaborate, advancing infrastructure solutions, and building broader public understanding of water’s essential role in communities and economies.
Josh Mahan, Xylem:
“World Water Day reminds us that global challenges are ultimately solved locally through collaboration, convening, and ultimately action.”
Matthew Pine, Xylem:
“We opened Reservoir in 2022… as a neutral place to convene the water sector… to talk about the critical issues around water… These topics are becoming relevant more and more every day.”
Maria Lehman, American Society of Civil Engineers:
“Water is critical to people and places for everyday life… whether it’s drinking water, wastewater, stormwater… these systems meet an essential need… and are central to their well-being and quality of life.”
Ross van Dongen, United for Infrastructure:
"We all understand how challenging it is to do transformative things in our country right now, but infrastructure and water has always been a place where bipartisanship gets checked at the door."
Senator John Boozman, Arkansas:
“We just simply have to make people understand how important water is. When you ask any futurist, they’ll say, looking forward, the top two things always listed… are energy and water.”
The takeaway: when the water sector comes together with purpose, solutions move forward—and communities are stronger for it.
waterloop is a nonprofit news outlet exploring solutions for water sustainability. Visit https://www.waterloop.org/
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