SAN ANTONIO — Water is on the minds of many Texans, and the topic was overflowing in San Antonio last week.

Thousands of professionals in the water industry recently wrapped up a huge gathering, Texas Water 2026, the 32nd annual event of its kind.

“This is shaping up to be our largest conference ever,” said Daniel Nix, the executive director of the American Waterworks Association.

The event is the largest regional water conference in the United States.

“We’re looking at somewhere around 9,000 professionals attending the conference,” said Nix.

During the nearly week-long event, they covered nearly every topic on water you could think of.

“We’re bringing together the water and wastewater professionals from across the state to discuss the latest and greatest in technologies, procedures, regulations,” said Nix.

Nix said stormwater, the value of water, conservation and treatment are a big deal. Those were just a few of the main talking points on the agenda.

In Texas, there’s always one hot topic no one can stop talking about. 

“Drought is always on our minds here in Texas,” said Nix.

Nix said this year the drought seems to be worse in South and Central Texas, and yet the impact is still being felt all across the state.

“We know when it happens that we’ll come out of it, but with this particular type of disaster, unlike the others, you never know when you’re going to be out of it,” said Nix.

When folks at the conference were not discussing the drought, they were considering how to prevent the consequences. 

“There’s a lot of conversation around water re-use. How we treat our water. How we plan for our water supply, and how we treat our wastewater and turn it into clean water is really the mark of civilization,” said Julie Nargang, executive director of the Water Environment Association of Texas.

The influx of data centers is also on the minds of many.

“There’s a lot of conversation around data centers, and how much water data centers are using and how quickly this new industry is moving to Texas and really shaking up our water supply issues,” said Nargang.

Nargang said, overall, no matter what is going on in Texas, the goal is simple.

“You can’t have Texas open without accessible, available and clean water,” said Nargang.