CWRA 2026 National Conference
June 15-19, 2026
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Logo on the left and the conference announcement on the right
Living Between Water
CONNECTING WATER & RESILIENCE
79th Annual National CWRA Conference
Given the location on Treaty 1 Territory, the ancestral lands of the Anishinaabeg (Ojibway), Ininew (Cree), Ojibway-Cree, Dakota, and Dene Peoples, and the birthplace and homeland of the Red River Métis Nation, where the Red and Assiniboine rivers meet in the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba – We welcome all who are interested in the promotion of responsible, innovative, and effective use of water resources to join us for a week of exciting presentations, networking opportunities, tours, and workshops.
Join us at the 2026 CWRA National Conference in beautiful Winnipeg, Manitoba! Theme to be announced in Fall 2025.
For sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities, please contact cwra2026@cwra.org
News & Updates
Sponsors and Exhibitors Prospectus Available Soon in Fall 2025.
Honouring the Spirit of Water:
BRAIDING TOGETHER DIVERSE KNOWLEDGE STREAMS THROUGH A CLIMATE OF CHANGE
Water is more than just a resource—it is the essence of life. Across cultures and generations, water has been revered as sacred: a purifier, a healer, a symbol of renewal. The “spirit of water” expresses this deeper relationship. It reminds us that water is not merely a commodity, but a living part of our ecosystem—one that sustains all forms of life and connects us to one another and to the land.
Honouring the spirit of water calls for gratitude, humility, and action. Every drop conserved, every river protected, every story shared brings us closer to a future where water is treated with the respect and reverence it deserves.
Join us at the 2026 CWRA National Conference to honour the Spirit of Water.
For sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities, please contact cwra2026@cwra.org
News and Updates
October 29, 2024
Exciting news! Our sponsorship and exhibitor details and benefits are available now in the Conference Prospectus.
For more information about sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities for CWRA 2025 in Penticton, BC, please contact CWRA2025@cwra.org
Download the Full Sponsor and Exhibitor Prospectus here
October 24, 2024
The CWRA 2025 National Conference is accepting proposals for Special Sessions under the theme of Living Between Waters – Connecting Water and Resilience.
Special Sessions are expected to focus on topics related to water sharing across multiple jurisdictions and watersheds, creating new partnerships to manage water resources, the decision-making and stewardship of and by Indigenous communities, and creating resilience for our shared water future.
Potential topic areas that will be explored during special sessions include:
- Exploring opportunities to connect science and engineering with traditional ecological and Indigenous knowledge;
- Water management across the continuum from headwaters to deltas (summit to sea);
- Integrated assessment of surface water & groundwater interactions across a myriad of spatial scales;
- Planning for environmental flow needs in streams and water bodies;
- Flood mapping and forecasting for resilience;
- Protecting aquatic species, ecology and traditional uses of water bodies;
- Nature-based solutions for drainage, flooding, restoration and conservation;
- Adapting & upgrading water infrastructure due to aging infrastructure and climate change;
- Developing and implementing hydrological prediction systems across Canada;
- Understanding the impacts of climate change on drinking water, agriculture, forestry, mining and industry across Canada;
- Collaborative approaches for incorporating new infrastructure and technology to create resilience to climate change;
- Developing collaborative approaches for transboundary water governance & water justice for a more resilient water future.
Proposals for special sessions should be provided to CWRA2025@cwra.org by November 12th, 2024. The proposals should include a brief (one paragraph) description of the session and a list of potential or suggested speakers. The organizers of Special Sessions will be responsible for encouraging colleagues to submit abstracts to the session, deciding which speakers are assigned an oral presentation or a poster, and chairing the session at the conference.
If your proposal is successful, your Special Session will be included in the Call for Presentations anticipated at the end of November 2024. Once abstracts are closed (approximately the last week of January or first week of February), we would then ask you to review the submissions associated with your Special Session, and select speakers. The 2025 National Conference team will assist with reviewing abstracts and making programming decisions.
In choosing a theme for the conference, we wanted to have something that had a clear connection to our region, while also highlighting what our team felt was a current key focus in our area of work – the clear value of collaboration within water resources. This led us to our conference theme, which is “Rising with the tide: working together to address water resource challenges”. In support of this theme, we have outlined several of the key focuses our team is considering in developing the conference below:
- Highlighting the value of collaboration and information sharing in water resources management;
- Highlighting unique regional challenges, expertise, and solutions that can be potentially considered and adopted by others from across the country;
- Integrating indigenous water resources knowledge and perspectives; and
- Welcoming and learning from the knowledge and experiences of our colleagues from coast to coast.
Our logo was developed with an eye to having an immediate sense of recognition of the location for the event this year, and also with the intent of building excitement across our membership about the conference returning to the East Coast after a long hiatus. The colours were chosen to connect to those of the CWRA, and we hope it connects with our membership from coast to coast.
The conference will take place from June 18 – 21st 2023 at the Westin Nova Scotian, located centrally within Halifax. Please continue to check the conference website for additional details as they come available, and we look forward to seeing you next June!
Theme
In choosing a theme for the conference, we wanted to have something that had a clear connection to our region, while also highlighting what our team felt was a current key focus in our area of work – the clear value of collaboration within water resources. This led us to our conference theme, which is “Rising with the tide: working together to address water resource challenges”. In support of this theme, we have outlined several of the key focuses our team is considering in developing the conference below:
- Highlighting the value of collaboration and information sharing in water resources management;
- Highlighting unique regional challenges, expertise, and solutions that can be potentially considered and adopted by others from across the country;
- Integrating indigenous water resources knowledge and perspectives; and
- Welcoming and learning from the knowledge and experiences of our colleagues from coast to coast.
Our logo was developed with an eye to having an immediate sense of recognition of the location for the event this year, and also with the intent of building excitement across our membership about the conference returning to the East Coast after a long hiatus. The colours were chosen to connect to those of the CWRA, and we hope it connects with our membership from coast to coast.
The conference will take place from June 18 – 21st 2023 at the Westin Nova Scotian, located centrally within Halifax. Please continue to check the conference website for additional details as they come available, and we look forward to seeing you next June!
News & Updates with fancy titles containing the date, text boxes with the news, and dividers between each “post”
CWRA 2024 News and Updates
June 3, 2024
June 3, 2024
May 29, 2024
May 11, 2024
April 29, 2024
March 20, 2024
March 19, 2024
The Conference Registration is open now! Early Bird Price ends May 10, 2024. Please visit the Registration Page for details.
March 18, 2024
The Call for Volunteers is now open. Please visit the Volunteers Page for details.
