This past year in the water industry changed the way I think about progress.
Not because of one breakthrough technology or a single regulatory milestone, but because of the people, conversations, and shared challenges that surfaced again and again. Whether it was at ACE, Esri UC, or smaller working sessions with utilities across the country, one theme became impossible to ignore. Real advancement in water does not come from tools alone. It comes from alignment. Alignment around purpose, responsibility, and trust.
Coming into this year, I thought I understood the role technology could play in water infrastructure. I had seen it work. I had seen communities move faster, become more confident, and make better decisions when data was put to work the right way. What this year taught me is that technology only matters when it is paired with leadership that understands the why behind it.
Utilities are being asked to do more than ever with less. Smaller teams. Tighter budgets. Increasing public scrutiny. More complex regulations. And a growing expectation that infrastructure decisions should be transparent, equitable, and defensible. That pressure showed up in almost every conversation I had this year.
Yet what surprised me most was not frustration. It was resilience.
Across the industry, I met utility leaders who were not looking for shortcuts. They were looking for clarity. They wanted to understand their systems better. They wanted to explain decisions to their boards and their communities with confidence. And they wanted to ensure that compliance efforts did not come at the expense of environmental justice or long term sustainability.
This is where the tone of the industry feels different than it did even a few years ago.
Compliance is no longer viewed as a box to check. It is increasingly seen as a foundation. A starting point for better data. Better planning. Better outcomes. The Lead and Copper Rule changes brought this into sharp focus. Utilities that once assumed they knew their systems were suddenly asked to prove it. That moment created stress, but it also created momentum.
Many utilities realized that finishing an inventory was not the end of the journey. It was the beginning of understanding their system at a deeper level.
What I saw at conferences this year reinforced that shift. Conversations were less about whether technology belongs in water and more about how to deploy it responsibly. How to integrate it into existing workflows. How to ensure it supports staff instead of overwhelming them. How to build systems that remain useful even as regulations change.
That mindset is what excites me about the future.
Technology in water is maturing. Predictive modeling, advanced analytics, and modern GIS workflows are no longer theoretical. They are practical. They are being implemented by real teams under real constraints. And most importantly, they are being shaped by utility professionals who understand their systems better than anyone else.
One of the most powerful lessons I took from this year is that partnership matters more than scale. The utilities making the most progress were not necessarily the largest or the most well funded. They were the ones willing to collaborate. To share lessons learned. To lean on peers. To ask questions early instead of waiting until problems became crises.
That spirit of collaboration is rooted in responsibility rather than hierarchy. It is not about authority or titles, but about creating environments where teams feel supported as they navigate uncertainty. Where outside partners are brought in not to sell, but to listen, contribute, and help move the work forward together.
From my seat in business development, that has fundamentally shaped how I approach my role.
My responsibility is not just to build pipelines or open doors. It is to build relationships that last beyond a single project. To connect utilities with the right resources at the right time. To help create networks where knowledge moves faster than regulation and where innovation feels accessible instead of intimidating.
Environmental justice has been central to many of those conversations this year. Not as a buzzword, but as a reality. Communities that have historically been underinvested are often the ones facing the greatest infrastructure challenges. Addressing lead, unknown service lines, and aging water mains is not just an engineering problem. It is a trust problem.
When utilities invest in better data, they are investing in credibility. They are saying to their customers, we know our system and we are willing to stand behind our decisions. That matters. Especially in communities where trust has been eroded over time.
Looking ahead, I believe the next phase of growth in the water industry will be defined by integration. Integration between departments. Between data sources. Between compliance efforts and capital planning. Between short term regulatory needs and long term infrastructure strategy.
The utilities that succeed will be the ones who see these efforts as connected rather than separate initiatives.
I also believe the role of partnerships will continue to evolve. Vendors and consultants will be expected to show up differently. With humility. With transparency. With a willingness to adapt to each utility’s reality rather than forcing a one size fits all approach.
That is a good thing for the industry.
This year reminded me why I joined this space in the first place. Water is essential. The work is complex. And progress happens when people align around a shared purpose. Not just to meet a deadline, but to leave systems stronger than they found them.
As we look toward the year ahead, I am optimistic. Not because the challenges are getting easier, but because the industry is getting better at facing them together.
And that is real progress.
What Comes Next for Your Utility? If your utility is navigating inventory completion, compliance, or long-term planning and looking for clarity, not shortcuts – we’d love to connect. Let’s talk about what progress looks like for your system and how data can support your team, not overwhelm it.
