Albert Cho: Why Water Security is Economic Security in the U.S.
Albert Cho, Vice President and Chief Strategy and External Affairs Officer at Xylem
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If water is critical for economic growth, then why don’t we prioritize it in our planning?
Albert Cho, Vice President and Chief Strategy and External Affairs Officer at Xylem, joins John to explore why water security is foundational to economic growth, and how our planning doesn’t reflect it. From AI and infrastructure to basin-scale governance and disaster resilience, Albert explains how rising demand and system constraints are reshaping water challenges across the U.S. He also discusses why the biggest barrier isn’t innovation, but adoption, and how better planning and coordination could unlock significant amounts of water already within existing systems.
“ Trying to approach the problem the same way and planning for infrastructure in the same way is literally the definition of insanity. It is going to condemn us to a future of water insecurity.”
Key Topics
Water Security and Human Security: Why access to safe, reliable water underpins health, economic growth, and daily life.
What's Missing in AI Infrastructure Planning: Why water is rarely a primary factor in site selection, even as new infrastructure drives significant demand.
“Potential Water” in Existing Systems: The opportunity to reduce leakage and expand reuse to access water already within infrastructure systems.
Fragmentation and Basin-Level Coordination: Why water risk doesn’t respect political boundaries, and how decisions in one community can impact the entire basin.
Rural Systems and Regionalization: How smaller communities are working together through regional utilities to share resources, reduce costs, and improve service.
Innovation vs. Adoption: Why the challenge isn’t a lack of solutions, but how to implement them at scale.
Links to Relevant Studies and Resources:
Learn more about Xylem and how it helps solve tough water challenges
See Rethinking Resilience, the report with Global Water Intelligence, which shows how rising temperatures are increasing the intensity of extreme weather events threefold
Learn more about OpenET and their models for evapotranspiration across the United States
See EJ Water Cooperative as an example of regional water system collaboration
Al mentions the Water Infrastructure Modernization Act and efforts to encourage adoption of innovative solutions
Learn more about the EPA Environmental Finance Advisory Board and its recommendations on water infrastructure investment
Further reading
NOAA’s Billion-Dollar Disasters Report on the rising frequency and cost of extreme events
See the book Al references: Blindness by José Saramago
“We don’t have an innovation problem, we’ve got an absorption problem.”
Transcript
Coming soon.