Innovation without borders: Empowering Water Tech Changemakers Across the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence

DETROIT, Aug. 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - AquaAction, an organization that empowers innovators to solve critical water challenges and launch water-tech startups, is announcing the extension of its flagship AquaHacking program binationally for 2026 across the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence region with a goal of attracting 1,000 participants.

This marks a significant milestone in AquaAction's mission to foster a water-secure future through collaboration and innovation. To bolster cross-border cooperation, AquaAction's President, Soula Chronopoulos, is proud to unveil today the major co-hosts from both the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers (GSGP), and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative (GLSLCI), reinforcing the program's commitment to regional cooperation and impact.

Chronopoulos made the announcement during the open house for the new Urban Tech Xchange in Detroit, Michigan, where AquaAction will soon officially open their U.S. headquarters.

Now entering its 10th year and 16th edition, the AquaHacking program cultivates the next generation of water tech entrepreneurs through a rigorous 10-month program that provides intensive mentorship, technical guidance, seed funding and other strategic support.

As the world's largest freshwater basin faces increased pressures from extreme weather, geopolitical turbulence, population growth and pollution, there has never been a more critical time for cross-border innovation on water technologies.

Water issue themes that will be tackled could include:

• Bridging the water Access Gap in Underserved Communities
• Drought-resistant crop cultivation and water-smart agricultural practices
• Water-efficient cooling solutions for data centers
• Resilient municipal infrastructure
• Hybrid energy systems with water-saving components
• Economic Opportunities in the Circular Water Economy
• Maximizing value from Great Lakes fisheries and aquaculture, including sustainable use of 100% of each fish

Call for Partners

AquaAction is actively seeking post-secondary recruitment hubs and major funding sponsors to support the successful delivery of the 2026 AquaHacking Binational Program. Together, we can empower the next generation of water innovators to build a resilient, water secure future. For partnership inquiries or to learn more about the program, please visit aquaaction.org.

Quotes 

"Water knows no borders and neither should innovation. By uniting talent and resources across the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence region, we're empowering the next generation to tackle water challenges with bold, scalable solutions,"

• Soula Chronopoulos, President, AquaAction

"The water tech innovation that AquaAction is sparking with a new generation of entrepreneurs is precisely the kind of catalytic collaboration we first envisioned for the UTX. Our team at Bedrock is thrilled to be working with them to grow an ecosystem of innovators and scale them into successful industry disruptors."

• Kevin Mull, Senior Director for the Office of Urban Strategy and Innovation, Bedrock

"Innovation without borders is exactly what our freshwater demands. The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative is proud to stand alongside AquaAction in advancing solutions that cross geography and jurisdiction. Together, we are building a pipeline from university labs to municipal deployment—ensuring that brilliant ideas don't remain prototypes but become real tools that communities can implement. This is about more than technology; it's about ensuring residents have safe, affordable water, infrastructure that can withstand the stress of higher temperatures and more frequent storms, and opportunities to participate in a growing economy that is rooted in sustainable solutions."

• Jonathan Altenberg, President and CEO, the Great Lakes Saint Lawrence Cities Initiative

"The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers are committed to innovating to strengthen our region. AquaHacking offers a unique platform for young entrepreneurs and problem-solvers to address some of our real-world challenges. We look forward to working together to bring new ideas for improving our fisheries and addressing other water-related opportunities."

• David Naftzger, Executive Director, Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers

"When expertise meets innovation, we become trusted partners for those who value water, working together to bring this vital resource to life. Together with AquaAction's 2026 AquaHacking program, we're empowering the next wave of changemakers to protect, preserve, and revolutionize the future of water."

• Pierre-Marc Sarrazin, Vice-President, Ovivo

Quick Links

• https://aquaaction.org/en/our-programs/aquahacking-challenge/aquahacking-binational-2026

Quick Facts 

• AquaAction's Impact since 2016: 
  • 100+ water tech companies 
  • $200M+ in annual revenues 
  • $65M+ capital raised 
  • 400+ green jobs created 
  • Over 3,000 participants engaged
  • Over 95B litres (25B gallons) of water saved and the equivalent of over 85,000 trees in carbon avoided
• The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence region is home to 110 million people. It contains 21% of the world's and 95% of North America's surface fresh water supply and has a ground water supply the volume of Lake Michigan.
• The region accounts for more than 50% of all U.S./Canadian bilateral border trade and sees over 200 million tons of cargo shipped annually. If it were its own country, it would have a GDP of US$8 trillion, making it the third biggest economy in the world.
• The 2026 AquaHacking Binational Great Lakes and St. Lawrence program builds on the success of AquaAction's first-ever binational Great Lakes AquaHacking program with Northwestern Michigan College in 2023-20234 which brought together over 200 water tech innovators from across the U.S. and Canada.
• The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Basin faces mounting threats:
  • Toxic PFAS contamination continues to infiltrate waterways, outpacing current filtration systems and raising alarms about long-term health effects.
  • Nutrient runoff, in the form of phosphorus from agriculture and urban areas, is fueling harmful algal blooms that degrade water quality and damage aquatic ecosystems, most notably in Lake Erie.
  • The spread of invasive species is destabilizing food production systems and threatening biodiversity across multiple lakes.
  • Extreme weather is disrupting precipitation patterns, intensifying lake-level fluctuations, increasing shoreline erosion, and stressing aging infrastructure.
  • Urban and industrial expansion contributes to chemical runoff and challenges cities already struggling to modernize outdated wastewater systems.

About AquaAction

AquaAction is a charity registered in both the United States and Canada that is building a water-secure future through innovation, education, and collaboration. We support aspiring and experienced entrepreneurs to launch and scale water technology solutions to tackle the increasing economic, environmental and water security challenges we face. AquaAction works across sectors connecting innovators, policymakers, communities, and industries to empower the next generation of water stewards. We are a growing community of changemakers who are building the freshwater economy, one solution at a time.

SOURCE AquaAction