The Water Collaborative Delivery Association (WCDA) has announced its upcoming 20th Anniversary Symposium, a three-day event bringing together water utilities, practitioners, and industry partners from across the country for high-value learning and networking. The symposium marks two decades of WCDA’s work promoting collaborative approaches that help utilities deliver projects more efficiently, manage risk, and strengthen long-term system resilience.

The event will take place from 27 to 29 Jul in Denver, Colorado, and will feature a combination of educational sessions, facilitated discussions, a project site tour, a golf tournament, and other opportunities for utilities to engage with peers facing similar challenges and opportunities across the municipal sector.

“As we celebrate 20 years of the WCDA, this symposium provides an opportunity to bring collaborative delivery stakeholders together around shared learning and connection,” said Guy Voss, WCDA president. “The event will introduce general managers, finance specialists, consulting engineers, and other municipal professionals to emerging trends, real-world examples, strategies, and innovations from those leading collaborative delivery in our sector.”

Collaborative delivery is the fastest-growing form of project delivery in the water sector, experiencing a 10% annual growth rate and with $30bn invested over the past decade. With regulatory pressures and infrastructure reliability challenges more prominent than ever, collaborative delivery methods allow project owners to identify constructability issues, cost risks, and operational impacts early, enabling ambitious upgrades to be executed with confidence. This approach provides greater funding certainty, faster project delivery, and transparency throughout the process, from design to construction.

The full symposium agenda will be released in Mar 2026 and will include sessions exploring topic areas such as:• Emerging trends and innovations in collaborative delivery• Utility case studies and lessons learned across drinking water, wastewater, reuse, stormwater, and integrated One Water approaches• Best practices in procurement, risk management, and project execution• Strategies for improving system resilience, operational readiness, and long-term planning• Approaches to strengthening partnerships among utilities, engineers, builders, and technology providers• Additional programming, including keynote speakers, will be announced as details are finalised

“This symposium reflects WCDA at its best,” said Barb Martin, WCDA executive director. “With two days of high-quality educational programming and a 20th anniversary celebration, the event honours our history while investing in the future of collaborative delivery in the water sector.”

The symposium is aimed at water utility professionals seeking practical insights, peer-to-peer learning, and a deeper understanding of how collaborative delivery can support their capital programmes. Attendees will have opportunities to:• Engage directly with other utilities navigating similar challenges• Participate in interactive discussions with practitioners and subject-matter experts• Explore tools and approaches that support more predictable, resilient project outcomes• Build relationships that strengthen collaboration across the water community