More than 900 professionals working in a wide range of water-related disciplines participated in the seventh annual WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition, October 8-10, 2014 in Las Vegas.

Founded in 2007 by a team of leaders in the water, energy, and non profit sectors at Harvard Business School, Imagine H2O seeks to inspire and empower people to solve water problems. Imagine H2O hosts an annual prize competition for water innovation and offers an accelerator program to help entrepreneurs turn their plans into real-world solutions.

As it has since its inception in 2008, WSI emphasized the sharing of ideas and best practices to help local communities achieve greater water efficiency and conservation, said Program Chairman Doug Bennett.

WSI participants comprised professionals from 36 states and the District of Columbia, as well as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, France, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

"WaterSmart is meeting a critical need for communities with challenged water supplies," said Bennett, who also is Conservation Manager for the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA). "People leave the event with concepts and resources they can deploy quickly. That's particularly important in drought-affected regions."

The WSI program featured an opening keynote address by Sandra Postel, founder of Global Water Policy Project. She also is co-creator of Change the Course, the national freshwater restoration campaign undertaken by National Geographic and its partners, and piloted in the Colorado River Basin.

In addition, a luncheon featured the presentation of the WaterSense Partner of the Year Awards by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's WaterSense Program and the Alliance for Water Efficiency.

The SNWA again presented WSI in partnership with the Alliance for Water Efficiency, American Water Works Association, Audubon International, California Landscape Contractors Association, California Urban Water Conservation Council, Green Plumbers USA, the U.S. EPA's WaterSense Program, International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, International Center for Water Technology, International Code Council, Irrigation Association and Imagine H2O.

Agency supporters included Denver Water, San Diego County Water Authority, City of Phoenix Water Services Department, Central Arizona Project, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Water Conservation Coalition.

The eighth Annual WSI conference and expo is slated for October 7-9, 2015, at the South Point Hotel and Conference Center in Las Vegas. More information is available at www.WaterSmartInnovations.com.