GWS 2026: Industry x Municipalities

Global Water Summit 2026 | Day 0 | May 18 

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Overview

This joint session brought together two GWI networks — Leading Utilities of the World (LUOW) and the Corporate Leaders Group — for their first combined event. The session examined how industrial water users and municipal utilities can collaborate to build shared water resilience.

Opening Context

GWI CEO Christopher Gasson framed the session around a fundamental shift in corporate water stewardship: the movement has evolved from communications-led “license to operate” messaging toward a genuine focus on physical water security. Two forces are driving this change:

•     Industry’s increasing intolerance for operational water disruption, especially for data centres and chip fabrication plants running 24/7 — an outage can be catastrophic.

•     Growing recognition that water security is a shared community asset: a business cannot have water security if its neighbours do not.

Opening poll: participants ranked utility collaboration as the highest-value corporate water stewardship activity, above upstream replenishment, WASH projects, and on-site efficiency.

Second poll: the biggest barriers to partnerships were identified as municipal slowness and regulatory complexity.

Panel Presentations

Four panellists from industry and the utility sector set the scene before the round-table discussion.

Susan Moisio Senior VP & Global Water Director, Jacobs Engineering Framed the session around mutual need: industry requires reliable fit-for-purpose supply; utilities have an expanded mission to support sustainable economic growth. She characterised industry–utility partnerships as a “win-win,” with local water resource planning as the foundation.	Will Hewes Water Sustainability Lead, Amazon Described Amazon’s three-pillar water positive strategy — efficiency, reuse, and replenishment — all reliant on utility partnerships. Amazon is scaling from 26 to 130 data centres on recycled (“purple pipe”) water, and investing in leak detection in Mexico City where ~40% of supply is lost.
Yossi Jacoby VP Engineering, Mekorot (National Water Utilities) Stressed that no utility succeeds alone. Advocated for shared reservoir capacity and a holistic approach where utilities, industry, and regulators plan together around fit-for-purpose water quality. Reframed regulation as an enabler rather than a barrier.	Kelly Osborne Intel, Arizona (Ocotillo Site) Intel’s net positive water goal by 2030 is driven as much by business continuity as stewardship. Described two City of Chandler partnerships: a joint ASR facility (10 MGD emergency reserve) and the Ocotillo Brine Reduction Facility (city-owned, Intel-financed). Key lesson: engage municipalities early and often at the operations level.

Round-Table Findings

Tables were asked to identify one barrier, one enabler, and one opportunity. The following themes emerged consistently across all groups.

Barriers	Enablers	Opportunities
•     Low water pricing undermines business case for reuse •     Regulatory complexity and permitting delays •     Mismatched time horizons (industry: months; utilities: decades) •     Fragmented governance across jurisdictions •     Public acceptance and cultural resistance to reuse •     Difficulty financing solutions through supply chains •     Entrenched “we’ve always done it this way” mindsets	•     Water stress events as a forcing function for action •     National-level policy and planning frameworks •     Industrial parks enabling group engagement •     Operations-level trust-building between utility and industry staff •     Corporate net-positive water goals bringing funding to the table •     Regulation that encourages collaboration	•     Decentralised, fit-for-purpose water systems matched to industrial quality needs •     Multi-sector catchment planning integrating agriculture, industry and public supply •     Private financing and public–private partnership models •     Utilities as a channel to reach all water users beyond major brands

Panel Responses & Closing Themes

Panellists synthesised the round-table feedback into the following key points:

•     Build trust early and often — at both leadership and operational levels. Intel’s community advisory panels, where residents visit facilities to understand water use, were cited as one model.

•     Equip utilities to engage with industry funding — many utilities do not yet know how to absorb or partner around replenishment capital that companies like Amazon want to deploy.

•     Reframe regulation as enablement — regulators communicate with all players simultaneously and could actively promote cross-sector planning rather than being seen purely as a barrier.

•     Supply-chain intermediaries as champions — firms such as Jacobs and Veolia, who already work across both sectors, are well-placed to broker and convene partnerships.

•     Long-term policy design is non-negotiable — utilities cannot serve a data centre coming online in two years if infrastructure has not been planned decades in advance.

•     “One water” thinking — water does not distinguish between drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater; planning should reflect that holistic reality.

•     Tariff reform — many utility tariff structures date to the 18th or 19th century and need to be rethought to support the financial models that cross-sector collaboration requires.

Closing

Christopher Gasson closed by framing the session as a beginning rather than a resolution — the first step in moving a global dialogue between two communities that have historically operated in silos. He noted that private financing models and municipal-industrial reuse would be taken up in further sessions at the Summit, and flagged the World Bank’s Water Resources Group as one vehicle already working to finance cross-sectoral projects.