Annual Summit

Keynote Speakers

• John Hofmann, Executive Vice President of Water at the Lower Colorado River Authority, Download presentation
  Planning for Growth: Water resource management in high-growth areas prone to droughts and floods (PDF)
• Richard Whisnant, Professor of Public Law & Government at UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Government.Download presentation
  Some (Fairly) Unique Features of Carolina Water Law: Confessions of a "Good Government Guy" (PDF)
• Barry Gullet, Chair of the Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group Download presentation
  Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group 10 Years Later (PDF)
• Ronnie Bryant, President & CEO, Charlotte Regional Partnership Download presentation
  Water and Economic Development (PDF)

Business and Economic Panel

• Smoky Bissell, former Chairman and CEO of Bissell Companies
• Hank Eisenga, Vice President of Giti Tire Manufacturing
• Gary Salamido, VP of Governmental Affairs, North Carolina Chamber of Commerce
• Tammy Whaley, Senior Economic Development Manager, Duke Energy

First annual summit takeaways included

• Reliable, long-term water supply is critical to economic success
• Water supply is a shared resource and needs collaborative planning and management
• Availability and reliability of water supply is a part of economic development decisions
• Water resources in NC are not regulated like they are in some states and are facing potential challenges
• Many facets of our region are planned regionally (e.g., transportation, economic development, etc.) and so are water resources and your community needs to participate
• The CWWMG is a river basin planning organization aimed at ensuring a reliable, long-term water supply and needs regional support
• The Catawba-Wateree River Basin has its challenges, but the level of collaboration through the CWWMG and the CW-DMAG places the river basin’s shared water supply on a strong foundation