Session 2: North and South America — From Established Regulation to Integrated Water Systems

North and South America offer a diverse range of regulatory models, from mature utility regulation to rapidly evolving frameworks responding to water scarcity, climate pressures, and growing reliance on desalination and reuse.

This panel will examine how regulatory approaches are adapting as the assumptions behind traditional models change, and as water systems become more interconnected. Speakers will explore where existing regulatory instruments are coming under strain, how the growth of non-conventional supplies is affecting regulatory influence across the water value chain, and what is required to move from integration in principle to integrated regulation in practice.

The discussion will focus on three questions:

• What assumptions behind established regulatory approaches are proving hardest to sustain?
• As desalination and reuse grow, where does regulatory influence weaken across the water value chain?
• What does effective, system-wide regulation need to deliver in practice: greater efficiency, resilience, investment confidence, and public value?

The panel will draw on experience from across the Americas to identify practical lessons that can inform regulators facing similar challenges worldwide.

Participating countries: United States, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Peru.