Water and Disasters: Risk, Resilience, and Adaptation

The 2022 Aspen-Nicholas Water Forum explored what must be done to ensure the water sector becomes more resilient to water-related disasters. How can communities navigate and prepare for the impacts of increasingly common water-related disasters? How do we reconcile different values as individuals, businesses, and government negotiate who receives resources to mitigate, adapt, and recover?

The annual Aspen-Nicholas Water Forum convenes thought leaders to address ongoing challenges to water sustainability in the United States. Participants come from the private sector, government, academia, and nongovernmental organizations—representing expertise in industry, finance, philanthropy, government, academia, agriculture, food and technology companies, investors and entrepreneurs. Topics discussed include big data, innovative financing, water quality, and water affordability. The common thread linking each forum is the fundamental question of what does good water governance look like for the United States?

Each year, the Nicholas Institute and Aspen Institute coauthor a summary of the forum. Not all views were unanimous nor was unanimity and consensus sought. Forum participants and sponsors are not responsible for this summary’s content.

We thank the following sponsors for their generous support of the forum: BHP Foundation, Innovyze—an Autodesk Company, ByWater Institute at Tulane University, The Freshwater Trust, Xylem, The Refuge Resource Group, Esri, and The Water Research Foundation.