UPDATE -- MARCH 26, 2020 -- As of today, several more industry events have been canceled or postponed, including the WWEMA Washington Forum, scheduled for April 29-May 1, in Alexandria, Va.
"This was not a decision that was made lightly or without significant deliberation but, in the face of increasing concerns and the guidance of governmental and health agencies, the decision was compelled and required, the organization said in a statement.
WWEMA staff and leadership will be evaluating other options to provide some of the programming that would have teken place at the conference through alternative venues such as webinars or other electronic medium.
Singapore International Water Week has been pushed out a whole year, and will not be held until 2021, out of fears related to the global pandemic.
Other water events impacted include:
- Design-Build for Water/Wastewater Conference, originally scheduled for April 20-22 has been postponed (new dates not yet available).
- Texas Water, the largest regional water conference in the U.S., has rescheduled for July 13-16, 2020. The event will still be held in Fort Worth, Texas.
- Germany's IFAT has been rescheduled to Sept. 7-11, and will be held in Munich.
MARCH 13, 2020 – It’s been a tough – and confusing – few weeks for members of the water industry, as fears about Coronavirus/COVID-19 began to grow across the world and in the U.S. Professional sports teams suspended their seasons, while major theme parks closed through the end of March. Several states have declared states of emergency or have limited large gatherings in public places until further notice. In Boston, Maryland and other states, travel for government employees has been put on hold. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom called for events with over 250 people in one place to be cancelled or postponed until further notice.
In response to the Governor’s order, the governing board of the American Water Works Association’s California-Nevada Section on Thursday, March 12, canceled the organization’s Spring Conference. Speaking for the board, Executive Director and Board Secretary Sue Mosburg said, “The health and wellbeing of those who had planned to attend this event, coupled with our social and ethical responsibility to mitigate our contribution to the spread of COVID-19 are top priorities. This was an extremely difficult decision, especially because this conference was to be the primary celebration of our 100th anniversary as an association. On the other hand, when we considered that our most fundamental purpose is protection of public health, the only responsible decision was to consider the greater community and put safety first and foremost.”
The event was expected to draw more than 1,500 people to Anaheim, Calif., April 6-9. While the organization has not yet released new dates, the event is expected to be postponed to sometime later in the year.
Additionally, Texas Water 2020, the largest regional water conference in the country, announced their Spring event would be rescheduled. Originally slated to take place March 31-April 3, in Fort Worth, Texas, the conference has been postponed until July 13-16, 2020.
“This was a difficult decision, but we believe it is the best way to protect the health and safety of our attendees, speakers, and exhibitors,” an email to conference registrants said.
Just a few days before their annual conference was to take place in Phoenix, Ariz., AMTA and AWWA announced they would be postponing the 2020 Membrane Technology Conference & Exposition.
VIDEO: WEF's Walt Marlowe Comments on COVID-19
