Meet the Leadership Team

Lara Kammereck (President)                                   

I am very excited to invite you to PNCWA2023. We’ll convene in Tacoma, Washington, September 10-13 this year. Tacoma is located on the I-5 corridor along Puget Sound, with breathtaking views of Mt. Rainier. The city is home to a vibrant and creative community and is alive with activity in the downtown area of our conference. This should be the largest conference in our nearly 90-year history, with over 155 abstracts accepted for our technical and exhibitor tracks and more than 120 exhibitors. As part of its mission to educate and connect members to promote a healthy water environment in the Pacific Northwest, PNCWA’s annual conference brings together water professionals from across the three-state region for several days of technical education and professional networking.

This year, our conference focus is “Catalyzing a Sound Future for Water,” inspiring our vibrant water community to spark change and accelerate actions that sustain healthy watersheds for future generations. Many presentations highlight efforts to integrate these concepts into clean water policies, programs, and projects. The opening session will include thought-provoking speakers from around the Northwest to kick off the discussions on collaboration, partnership, and long-lasting impacts for future generations.  

PNCWA2023 will continue to offer superb technical sessions on regional topics. The conference committee, led by Andrew Matsumoto and Kristi Steiner, developed a high-quality educational program. There is a host of technical presentations over two and a half days covering a wide range of topics, including PFAS, innovative treatment technologies, workforce development, collaborative delivery, and watershed management. This year includes presentations on community resilience, including creative ideas for optimization, data security, and safety. In addition, our Exhibitor Technology Showcase is new this year, offering a PNCWA technical track specific to Exhibit Hall presentations. 

As always, the number of CEUs attendees can earn makes this conference a one-stop event for continuing education for professional licenses and certifications. We hope that your time in Tacoma exposes you to innovative approaches to solving problems, expands your connections with other clean water professionals, and inspires you to tackle the pressing water challenges facing our communities.   

I look forward to seeing you at PNCWA2023 in Tacoma, Washington, September 10 -13. 

Lara Kammereck, PE, PMP

PNCWA President 

Andrew Matsumoto (Conference Chair)

To My Fellow Water Professionals: 

Kristi Steiner (Technical Chair)                        

I am beyond thrilled this year for the PNCWA2023 Technical Program, where we will be Catalyzing a Sound Future for Water together in Tacoma, WA through site tours and over 140 technical presentations. We are also excited to continue our partnership with WateREuse, who will be hosting a full day of Water Reuse-focused presentations on Monday! While some things are far too great to change, like the caliber of people you’ll interact with at PNCWA each year, I’d like to share some of the exciting changes our team has been working toward to shape a more positive experience related to the PNCWA2023 technical program.

Abstract Review and Selection. For the first time, we implemented a double-blind review process for abstracts, removing the authors and represented companies for the scoring process. We did this to support a more equitable process for scoring and selection of abstracts, and we believe it made a positive impact on the diversity of speakers and content in our Technical Program!

CEU Tracking and Format Changes. One of the first things you might notice is our switch to electronic CEU tracking, making it more efficient for you to move in and out of presentations and maximize your CEUs! We have also adjusted the program to accommodate a mix of 30-minute and 60-minute presentations to improve the variety of content available for you to choose from. You will not want to miss Wednesday this year, which has over 40 high-quality presentations lined up…all before noon!

On the Exhibit Hall Floor. As in past years, we will be offering mobile sessions on the Exhibit Hall floor during breaks, providing you the opportunity to see hands-on demonstrations from our vendors and manufacturers. New this year, we will be hosting our first Exhibitor Showcase! This is a technical track running during Exhibit Hall hours on Tuesday, where attendees can learn about the innovations of our industry from our PNCWA2023 exhibitors. A collaboration space will be open directly adjacent to the presentation space for follow-on conversations or bring your colleagues to follow up with exhibitors at their booth!

 Workshops. Unfortunately, we said farewell to our pre- and post-conference workshops this year to focus more on the content of our technical program but stay tuned for more workshop opportunities to come outside of the conference!

Our technical program this year is the culmination of our technical committee’s hard work and commitment to reviewing, selecting, and organizing abstracts. Thank you so much to our volunteers for their time and dedication to creating a program that showcases the innovation happening in all reaches of our water industry to meet our water quality challenges and ensure a Sound Future for Water in the Pacific Northwest.