Former Sec. Haaland to Keynote 2025 Next Generation Water Summit
Former Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland will be the Thursday keynote speaker at the 2025 Next Generation Water Summit (NGWS). Her address will feature her experience as a former Cabinet Secretary overseeing the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and the ongoing drought in the Western United States. As a 35th-generation New Mexican, she will also provide her thoughts on how conservation efforts and climate adaptation can meet the challenges of both today and tomorrow. Her keynote will begin at 8:45am MT.
“Water is a precious resource in the high desert, and the future of our communities depends on using water wisely and planning our water future in the face of a changing climate,” said Deb Haaland, candidate for New Mexico governor. “As Secretary, we worked diligently to address drought in the West, and as governor I will bring that experience to ensure New Mexicans have clean, reliable water for generations to come.”
The NGWS focuses on both regional and national water challenges. The 2025 theme is “Increasing Resilience in an Unpredictable Climate.”
“We are deeply honored to welcome Former Secretary Deb Haaland as our keynote speaker. From her time as a U.S. Congresswoman to her groundbreaking role as Secretary of the Interior, Secretary Haaland brings an unparalleled understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing water management in the West. Her deep roots in our region and her commitment to Indigenous and environmental stewardship embody the very spirit of this Summit. We look forward to her inspiring vision for a more resilient and equitable water future,” said Glenn Schiffbauer, co-founder of the NGWS.
All registrants (in-person or virtual) will be able to attend live and on-demand sessions, and network with fellow attendees from around the world. To register and/or for more information on the Summit, educational workshops and tours, visit www.NextGenerationWaterSummit.com.
Event Details:
- Date: June 5-6, 2025
- Time: 8:45 am Mountain Time
- Venue: New Mexico state capital building, also known as “The Roundhouse”
- Registration: NextGenerationWaterSummit.com
Hosts of the Next Generation Water Summit are the Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce; Green Builder® Coalition; City of Santa Fe; KUELwater, and the Santa Fe Area Homebuilder’s Association. The education partner is Triconic, LLC, the national media partner is Green Builder® Media, the regional media partner is Green Fire Times and the local media partner is the Santa Fe New Mexican.
About the Next Generation Water Summit
The Next Generation Water Summit brings together the building and development community, water reuse professionals and water policymakers in a collaborative setting to share best practices and learn about innovative water conservation and water reuse techniques that can be used to comply with water conservation restrictions spreading across the southwest.
Kim Shanahan, 1956 – 2025
In mid-April, many were stunned by the unexpected passing of Kim Shanahan. This memorial in the Santa Fe New Mexican details how he was many things to many people. To the Green Builder® Coalition, he was a Charter Member, a 3-time Board member, and a champion for water and energy efficiency.
An original member of the WERS Development Group, he and Bill Roth (also a Charter Member) are the reasons the Coalition got involved with water ratings in the first place. They approached Laureen Blissard and Mike Collignon in February 2014, asking if they could help their blossoming effort to build out and proliferate a water rating that would become known as WERS. While he was an enormous advocate for WERS, he lent his talents to anything water efficiency-related. He, along with Craig Conner and Laureen, created the Water Rating Index (a lighter version of WERS) for the National Green Building Standard. Kim also served on the development group for RESNET’s HERS H2o. He was one of only a few people who would constantly pound the table for water efficiency and water-related issues on behalf of western states within NAHB’s committees. His presence there will be sorely missed.
Kim retired from the Santa Fe Area Homebuilders Association in 2018, but as you can tell from the above paragraph, he didn’t fully retire. He had been working diligently to help produce the 2025 Next Generation Water Summit. (He also helped with the 2024 Summit.) He and Lisa (his partner) moved to Costa Rica in 2022. However, he continued to file a weekly column in the New Mexican from afar. In fact, here is the link to his last column, published on the day he died. As you will see, he was advocating for WERS (among other things) until the very end.
Kim leaves behind Lisa, his two children Lyle and Isabel, and a grandson, Elio Kim Guarascio Shanahan. In lieu of flowers, well-wishers are asked to make donations in Kim Shanahan’s name to Santa Fe Habitat for Humanity.