WaterTalk: York Region’s One Water Story… recognizing the value of water in all its forms

Friday, November 12, 2021 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm EST (GMT -05:00)

water talks event image with erin mahoney headshot

As part of the Water Institute's WaterTalks lecture series, Erin Mahoney,
Commissioner of Environmental Services for York Region and Douglas Wright
Engineer-in-Residence will present: York Region’s One Water Story…
recognizing the value of water in all its forms.

Co-hosted by the Water Institute and The Turkstra Chair in Urban Engineering.

More information:

York Region has embarked on a One Water Journey which is showing how new ways
of thinking can bring community benefits, whether through better service
quality, less disruptive infrastructure solutions, or greener and more
welcoming surroundings, in addition to cost savings.

York Region’s water and wastewater master planning reflects our One Water
Approach which calls for solutions that are forward-thinking, and that aim to
keep the Region welcoming and livable as it becomes more urbanized.

This makes One Water central to the Region’s strategy for water and
wastewater management. One Water encourages matching sources of water to
their best end uses. By recognizing that not all water needs to be treated to
drinking water quality levels, One Water can increase the capacity of
existing infrastructure and reduce the need for new investment. This
presentation will cover the efforts by Environmental Services in York Region
to advance One Water approaches by working with our partners to recognize the
value of water in all its forms.

Speaker bio: Erin Mahoney

Erin Mahoney is Commissioner of Environmental Services for York Region,
overseeing water and wastewater services, waste management, forestry,
corporate energy and corporate asset management for 1.2 million residents and
28,000 businesses. Erin leads a team of about 500 staff in the Environmental
Services department, which was inducted into the Leading Utilities of the
World network in 2017.

Erin is the 2021 Douglas Wright Engineer-in-Residence for the Civil and
Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Waterloo. She is
also a Board member of the Federal Sustainable Development Technology Canada
and past Chair of the Regional Public Works Commissioners of Ontario. She
also has served on the board of WaterTAP, a Canadian water technology
accelerator.

She has over 30 years of public and private sector leadership experience on
water and wastewater service delivery, policy, environmental legislation and
public engagement.

Erin is currently leading a department-wide transformation to digital in
Environmental Services.

As an active member of the public works community she holds memberships with
Global Water Leaders (GWI), Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Toronto Region
Board of Trade, American Public Works Association and American Water Works
Association.