TRACK 1, DAY 1
ABSTRACT
Climate change is here. How are our cities preparing? What will it take to ensure that – 20, 50, 100, 1,000 years from now – we have universal access to affordable, clean, and safe drinking water?
Will our rivers become fishable, swimmable, attractive and accessible? What policy and practice changes are needed in the water industry to ensure we achieve and maintain urban resiliency and sustainable, equitable communities? How do we use 21st-century innovation and progressive thinking to transform our 19th-and 20th-century infrastructure and practices into 22nd-century solutions?
Mr. Neukrug will use examples from Philadelphia’s “Green Cities, Clean Waters” initiatives and global examples from leading practitioners from around the world.
ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Howard Neukrug, University of Pennsylvania Water Center
Mr. Neukrug is a Professor of Global Water Practices and founding director of the Water Center at the University of Pennsylvania, which integrates innovative urban water system solutions.
He is the co-founder and chair of the Delaware River Basin’s Advisory Committee on Climate Change and the Leading Utilities of the World (LOUW) Network. He is a global leader in water utility management, environmental policy and regulations, climate change, and strategic development.
Prior to joining Penn, Mr. Neukrug worked for Philadelphia Water for over 30 years before retiring as its Commissioner and CEO in 2016. He transformed the utility into a progressive, green, community-focused “One-Water Utility” serving 2.3 million people during his tenure.
He created Philadelphia’s Green City Clean Waters program and its Office of Watersheds, and oversaw the development of the City’s integrated CSO, MS4, and Source Water Protection programs.