Droughts are nothing new in the West, but there is the sense that this time it's different. The region's water supplies and infrastructure -essential to prosperous communities - are coming under increasing strain due to rapid population growth, pollution concerns, and an increasingly volatile climate. As a result, the era of cheap and easy water is coming to an end. This will mean new and substantial entitlement, political, and economic risks for development projects.

Developers will face growing pressure to produce water efficient and sustainable projects. Similarly, public agencies will need to find the policies and practices that will secure a prosperous and sustainable future for western communities in the face of these significant challenges.

Join the ULI  Center for Balanced Development in the West, in partnership with the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), the Sustainable Sites Initiative, and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, for a look at cutting-edge  development, land use, and infrastructure solutions to the  water challenges of the West.

With a cross-section of leading developers, designers, and water experts from across the West, we'll share project-oriented solutions for water sustainability, as well as case studies and workshops that will offer you opportunities to interact with the experts.

Please click here for more information: http://bit.ly/3AElR

Since 2007, America 2050 has held megaregion forums in seven of America's eleven megaregions nation-wide. There forums were held as part of a "Rebuilding and Renewing America" campaign, which aimed to build support for the infrastructure investments we need to guide America toward a sustainable and prosperous future. The forums aimed to achieve three goals:

• Build support around the country for an ambitious national infrastructure plan in the areas of  transportation, energy, and water.
• Identify and prioritize the key infrastructure priorities in the megaregions, which can act as building blocks to a national plan.
• Create megaregion coalitions to support these megaregion priorities and begin coordinating with each other.

Each megaregion prioritized slightly different issues and has followed up on the forum in varying degrees. To read about the megaregion forums and next steps, download the summary below. Also available is a PowerPoint presentation given by Petra Todorovich at the America 2050 national meeting, which also outlines common principles on federal policy that were emphasized in each of the megaregions.

Download the Summary of Megaregion Forums.

Download a PowerPoint about the Forums.

On October 19, America 2050's national committee and key partners met at the Library of Congress to identify next steps for megaregion coordination and review America 2050's new research and programs for the coming year. Read more about the meeting on Anthony Flint's At Lincoln House blog.

We have posted several of the presentations here from the meeting and will post more as we get permission from the speakers. See the previous post to download briefing materials for the meeting.

Update on Megaregion Forums: Petra Todorovich (ppt)

A Systems Approach to Water Resources: Rob Pirani (ppt)

Revitalizing Underperforming Regions: Robert Yaro (ppt)

America 2050's National Committee and selected partners met on Monday, October 19 at the U.S. Library of Congress to hold a strategy session for the coming year. Partners reviewed the input and feedback gathered at America 2050's year long "Rebuilding and Renewing America" campaign, including megaregion forums in 6 of the nation's megaregions. At the meeting, America 2050 staff presented new research and policy recommendations in the areas of high-speed rail, water resources management, landscape conservation and revitalizing underperforming regions and places.

Download a short summary of the meeting.

Download PowerPoint presentations from the meeting.

Download background materials for the meeting below.

The next of the America 2050 megaregion forums is now open for registration.  Co-hosted with Houston Tomorrow, the forum is called Megaregions and MetroProsperity: Sustainable Economics for the Texas Triangle. It will be held September 24-25 at the Crystal Ballroom at the Rice Hotel in Houston, Texas.

View photos from the America 2050 Forum in Los Angeles, California, held on June 19, 2009. Speakers included Polly Trottenberg, Kathleen Brown, CA Senator Alan Lowenthal, NV Assemblyman Tick Segerblom, John Fielder, Neal Schmale, Sunne Wright McPeak, Councilwoman Leslie Daigle, Paul Rosenstiel and many others.

A conference in Houston convened by Houston Tomorrow and America 2050
September 23-25, 2009
The Crystal Ballroom/Rice Lofts, 909 Texas Avenue, Houston, Texas

Confirmed Partners to date:
University of Texas Austin, Houston-Galveston Area Council

Texans think big, and the megaregion concept demands very large-scale thinking. 
            - Frederick Steiner