The Aspen Institute

The 2021 Aspen-Nicholas Water Forum convened the nation’s leading water thinkers, innovators, and decision-makers ranging from community organizers to investors to local, state, and federal elected officials virtually over the course of two days in October. The forum has focused on topics ranging from big data to groundwater over the last decade and in 2020, the Forum explored what constitutes good water governance through the lenses of affordability and equity, a topic that was made ever more prescient given the circumstances of the year. In partnership with the US Water Alliance and EPIC, the 2021 Forum continued to build off our 18 month focus on this critical topic, driving towards the potential policy levers to improving water affordability. Featuring high-level keynote speakers and panelists, and opportunities for discussion following each of the presentations, the following summarizes the key themes that emerged out of the 2021 Forum.