The Conference brings together over 500 water experts, exhibitors, government officials, researchers, water sector organizations and international development agencies in one location to discuss water wastewater and solid waste management challenges, opportunities and solutions.
The Florida Section of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the Inter-American Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering (AIDIS) are co-hosting the Conference with resource assistance from the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department. Other partners include the Global Environment Facility – funded Caribbean Regional Fund for Wastewater Management (GEF CReW) Project, UN-Habitat, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association (CAWASA), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Global Water Partnership Caribbean (GWP-C).
The Exhibition, which is a major feature, provides an opportunity for service and equipment providers to display new services, technologies and products relevant to the Caribbean water and waste sectors. Technical Sessions profiling the study, science, application and management strategies relevant to water and waste will be presented during the Conference.
Jason Johnson of Pure Technologies Ltd. and President of the CWWA has noted that: “The challenges faced by the small, vulnerable islands of the Caribbean as well as Latin America countries and the United States, especially Florida, are quite similar, including the impact of climate change on our water resources. The intensity of hurricanes and drought conditions has been raising alarms and the impacts on sectors which are the life blood of our economies are evident. We therefore have to work together to find solutions and to share experiences and expertise."
The Annual High Level Forum of Caribbean Ministers Responsible for Water (HLF) will convene during the Conference. The 11th HLF will once again bring together Caribbean high level Government officials, experts and development partners to discuss social, environmental and economic policy issues in the Caribbean, including climate change. Given that the Caribbean is one of the world’s most vulnerable regions, the HLF will devise a strategy for negotiating the placement of Climate Change and Water Resources in Small Island States on various international agendas.
The discourse will revolve around how countries are addressing water shortages, drought conditions and water demand by sectors such as tourism, health and agriculture, wastewater management and its benefits in terms of watershed protection and pollution reduction, and options such as the re-use of treated water.