International Recognition of the Blue Tech Valley

Recently, the Water Innovations Alliance, in partnership with the Central Valley Business Incubator (CVBI), the Claude Laval Water & Energy Technology Incubator (WET Center) and the International Center for Water Technology (ICWT) held the Blue Tech Valley Water Conference in Clovis, CA. Global water technology practitioners, innovators and entrepreneurs within the private, public and academic arenas took the opportunity to collectively explore and discuss new innovations, developments, and trends relating to water issues facing world food production and a variety of urban and rural water concerns.

The conference theme was ‘International Solutions to Regional Issues’. It addressed current issues that have a direct and visible impact regionally, as well as world-wide implications.

The BlueTechValley Water Conference was a success in a number of ways: Top talent from around the world, such as:

Woodrow W. Clark II, MA3, PhD is a Qualitative Economist, Founder & Managing Director Clark Strategic Partners and Nobel Prize Recipient

Carrie Freeman, Director of Sustainable Business Innovation at Intel.

Anup Jacob is a founding Partner of Virgin Green Fund and special advisor to the Jain Irrigation Group of companies. Prior to VGF, he was an investment professional with TPG and a partner in TPG’s Aqua Fund, which focused on growth capital investments in the water and renewable energy sectors. Mr. Jacob has invested over $400 million in the renewable energy and resource efficiency sectors over the past 10 years.

Henrik Skov Laursen, Head of Water Technology Center GRUNDFOS Pumps Corp, North American Region is heading up the establishment of Grundfos' new Water Technology Center for research, offering new sustainable business and product solutions within water technologies solving the world’s challenges regarding water scarcity.

Ed Pinero, Executive Vice President & Chief Sustainability Officer for Veolia Water North America, leads Veolia Water's sustainability efforts in North America. The company's North American operations serve more than 14 million people in approximately 650 communities.

Peter Williams, Chief Technology Officer for IBM's Big Green Innovations incubator, whose role is to create environmentally focused businesses for IBM - he is personally responsible for assembling, maintaining and developing the portfolio of businesses included.  His particular focus areas have been PV technologies; developing green house gas reduction solutions and services for all types of organization, both public and private; and, in greatest depth, water management solutions, covering entire water resources (for example entire rivers or aquifers), utility infrastructures responsible for water supply, water quality and waste water management, and enterprise water management

Yoram Cohen PhD, Faculty of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California.

Craig Criddle is Professor of Environmental Engineering & Science (EES), Senior Fellow, Woods Institute for Environment Stanford University.

Alex G. Mcintosh is Founder & CEO, Ecomundi Ventures specializing in: water; sustainability; environmental strategy; clean technology & investment.

Bahman Sheikh, PhD, PE, a water resources and reuse specialist, completed water recycling project assignments in 21 countries outside the United States (e. g. Jordan, Peru, Kuwait, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bonaire, Egypt, Korea, Bahrain, Mexico, Syria)

Laura Shenkar, Founder and Principal of The Artemis Project, is one of the foremost global experts on corporate water strategy and the application of advanced water technologies.

There were many others experts in the field who shared their insights, but all recognized Fresno County and the region as best positioned for advancements and solutions through water technology innovation.

I thought it was one of the finest conferences for sharing advanced technology and ideas I have ever attended. My one big question is, where was the local agriculture industry leaders? With their hue and cry about water, this event brought more solutions to the forefront than I have ever heard or experienced before. There were more people from around the world and outside Fresno County than from the local community.

Now some might say they didn’t know about the event, but if you are plugged in to the WET Center or the ICWT (and you should be), there is no excuse. The agriculture industry should be participating in funding this marvelous water research and energy center.

All in all, congratulations, Kirk Nagamine (WET Center) and David Zoldoske (ICWT) for an incredible job well done. From those of us who attended, you give us another reason to be proud of Fresno.

Steve Geil

Reading the announcement in The Fresno Bee, December 2, 2009, that the State of California Department of Water Resources would be releasing 5% of the requested water to farming operations and urban dwellers, brought to bear that the EDC’s goal of creating a plan for water self-sustainability must be the highest priority for Fresno County and the Central Valley.

I recently returned from a trip to Israel with Sarge Green, preeminent water authority representing CSU-Fresno, Ken Schmidt, the foremost hydrologist in the San Joaquin Valley, and Ed McIntyre, Madera Water Commission, where we witnessed firsthand how this country has achieved this lofty goal.

What was most impressive was how Mekorot, Israel’s National Water Company, brought advanced water technologies together under one roof to create a water resource management system second to none. They incorporated desalination, brackish water filtration, effluent/waste separation, and water reclamation with an advanced water resource management software system to control supply and demand, while monitoring quantity and quality.

Here in Fresno County, we have all the water resources, when combined with advanced technology, to become self-sustainable for 100% of our needed agriculture water. The question is: Can, or will, we put aside past political differences and implement a plan for achieving the needed outcome? Are we willing to change how we confront our future economic survival rather than continue down this course of relying on an allocation from governmental agencies? Do we trust in our on expertise to take control of our destiny rather than complain about how we are being controlled?

If you answered ‘Yes’ to the above questions, we want to join with you to make it happen.

If you answered ‘No’ to any of the above questions, have the courtesy to get out of the way of those of us striving to become self-reliant when it comes to water resources.

Without water, we have no future! It is time to start the process of becoming self-sustainable for water. Here at the EDC, we are doing just that. Together we can achieve the extraordinary!