Speakers

opening keynote

Jason MOrrison, President, Pacific Institute; Head, UN Global Compact CEO Water Mandate

Panel: Data Center Water Consumption and Sustainable Solutions

This panel will explore the complex challenges and opportunities at the nexus of water and food systems, focusing specifically on California's agricultural sector. The discussion will investigate the unique environmental pressures facing California agriculture along with sustainable solutions for long-term freshwater security. Topics will include the intertwining roles of policy, community, water markets, and technology in managing water use.

Lightning Talks:Resilient Waters: Cross-Sector Pathways for Climate Adaptation

This series of lightning talks will address how communities and ecosystems can adapt to the water-related impacts of climate change, such as more intense floods and longer droughts. Discussions will focus on innovative infrastructure design, community-led adaptation planning, and the role of insurance and finance in building resilience.

Panel: Collaborative Water Governance: Cooperation and Conflict over Shared Water Resources

This panel examines the challenges and opportunities of collaborative approaches to water governance. It highlights how diverse stakeholders, including governments, communities, civil society, and the private sector, can work together to manage shared water resources. Panelists will explore case studies of effective multi-stakeholder partnerships, the institutional and policy frameworks that enable collaboration, and strategies for resolving conflict and building trust. The discussion will emphasize how collaborative governance can foster innovation, equity, and resilience in addressing water challenges, and how it can serve as a model for cooperative solutions to complex environmental issues.

PREVIEW SCREENING: Nature’s guardians

This special hour-long event features a preview screening of Nature’s Guardians, a new documentary from Executive Producer Adam Leipzig (March of the Penguins) that follows four inspiring individuals leading the global movement to grant ecosystems legal personhood. The film captures stories from Ecuador to Spain’s Mar Menor lagoon, revealing how law, community, and activism are reshaping humanity’s relationship with the natural world. Following the screening, experts will discuss the promises and limitations of recognizing nature’s legal rights and what this emerging framework could mean for the future of environmental protection.

Panel: From Risk to Resilience: Advancing Corporate Water Stewardship

Water underpins life, economies, and business, yet its value is often overlooked. New research shows water stewardship is critical to corporate sustainability, but programs remain siloed. This session explores how companies can strengthen stewardship across value chains, invest in at-risk catchments, and advance collaboration, policy, and nature-based solutions.

Panel: Healing Waters: Indigenous Leadership and Collaboration in California Watershed Restoration

Tribal nations across California are leading watershed restoration efforts that revitalize ecosystems, cultures, and communities. Projects like dam removals, salmon recovery, and land return are rooted in traditional knowledge and stewardship, yet often rely on partnerships with funders, restoration ecologists, and agencies to succeed. This panel brings together Tribal leaders and non-Indigenous partners to explore how collaboration can honor Indigenous leadership while strengthening ecological resilience and restoring relationships among people, land, and water.

Panel: The Next Drop: Future of Water Use in California Agriculture