Collaboration Takes Center Stage: Water Federation's Fall Conference Highlights

The Water Federation made waves at two major conferences this fall. Our team attended the Alberta Water & Wastewater Operators Association (AWWOA) Water Week conference from October 28–31 and the Alberta Community & Co-operative Association (ACCA) conference from November 3–5, both held in Edmonton.

Water Federation Chair Gary Houston and Executive Director Chris Hancock represented the Federation, joined by Business Systems Analysts and Project Managers Daniel Perri and Owen Bennett. The conferences delivered outstanding speakers, engaging learning sessions and valuable networking opportunities for water co-ops across the province.

"These events reinforce the importance of staying connected with our industry partners and the broader co-op community," said Hancock. "They were great opportunities to connect with colleagues from across Canada, learn about their projects and share our own initiatives."

The Federation also contributed significantly to the educational sessions. At Water Week, Joel Adesina of Rocky View Water Co-op presented on Automation vs Oversight: Managing Risks of Over-Reliance in Water Treatment Plant Operation, while Chair Gary Houston discussed The State of Rural Water Co-ops in Alberta in 2025. Executive Director Chris Hancock continued this knowledge sharing at the ACCA Conference with his presentation Rural Water Co-ops: Research Outcomes, Challenges and Next Steps.

A highlight of the ACCA conference came when Gary Houston accepted the prestigious Visionary Leadership Award from Naheed Nenshi, MLA.

Reflecting on the honour, Houston shared: "This award belongs to all of us in the water co-op community. It represents the collaborative spirit that makes our work possible. These conferences remind us why collaboration matters and how much we can accomplish when we support each other in serving our communities."

"Both conferences were excellent," said Perri. "The networking opportunities were fantastic, and we discussed some of our innovative projects, like our Electronic Monitoring Project. Seeing Gary accept the Visionary Leadership Award was a real highlight. He truly exemplifies Co-operative Principle #6: Co-operation among Co-operatives, and it was great to see that recognized."

"These conferences were really important for keeping us informed," added Bennett. "At Water Week, we learned about changes coming to Level 3 and 4 operator training that our members need to know about. At ACCA, there were great conversations about what's holding the co-op movement back. Everyone agreed that getting young people involved is the biggest challenge we're facing."