Groundwater Week 2026: Your Complete Guide to NGWA's Biggest Event

The National Ground Water Association (NGWA) just confirmed it: Groundwater Week 2026 is December 8–10 in Las Vegas, Nevada. And the call for workshop submissions is already open.

If you're a well driller, pump contractor, water treatment company, or geothermal installer — this is the one event you should have circled on your calendar. Not because someone told you to go to a conference, but because Groundwater Week is where the industry gathers, where deals happen on the expo floor, and where the companies that show up tend to pull ahead of the ones that don't.

Let's break down everything you need to know — and more importantly, how to make the trip actually pay for itself.

What Is Groundwater Week?

Groundwater Week is NGWA's flagship annual event. It combines the industry's largest trade show — the Groundwater Expo — with technical workshops, certification opportunities, and networking events across three days.

It's not a stuffy academic conference. It's where contractors walk the expo floor comparing drill rigs and pump systems, where manufacturers launch new products, where small companies meet regional distributors, and where the guy running a 3-truck operation in Kansas sits down at the same table as the VP of a national environmental firm.

The event typically draws thousands of professionals from every corner of the groundwater industry — contractors, scientists and engineers, manufacturers, and suppliers. If you serve the groundwater market in any capacity, your customers and competitors are both in that room.

Groundwater Week 2026 Details

Here's what NGWA has confirmed so far:

• Dates: December 8–10, 2026 (Tuesday through Thursday)
• Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
• Website: GroundwaterWeek.com
• Workshop submission deadline: May 15, 2026
• Workshop format: 60 minutes including Q&A, noncommercial, focused on technology transfer or skill enhancement
• Contact for workshop submissions: Sue Tenney, NGWA Education Program Manager — stenney@ngwa.org or (800) 551-7379, ext. 1568
• Contact for exhibition and sponsorship: Jonathan Dalferes — jdalferes@ngwa.org

Registration details, pricing, and the full schedule typically get announced in the summer. We'll update this guide as NGWA releases more information.

Workshop Topics for 2026

NGWA has outlined eight workshop tracks for this year. If you're thinking about presenting — or just want to know what kind of sessions to expect — here's the lineup:

1. Business Management — Running a profitable operation, hiring, financial planning, succession
2. Drilling Operations — Techniques, equipment innovations, challenging formations, efficiency
3. Geothermal Technologies — Ground source heat pumps, loop systems, residential and commercial geothermal
4. Safety and Compliance — OSHA requirements, wellhead protection, jobsite safety culture
5. Sustainable Groundwater — Aquifer management, managed aquifer recharge, water conservation
6. Water Systems — Pump selection, variable frequency drives, system design, pressure management
7. Well Maintenance — Rehabilitation techniques, video inspection, preventive maintenance programs
8. Workforce Development — Recruiting, training, apprenticeship programs, retaining skilled workers

Workshops run primarily on Tuesday (December 8), with limited sessions on Wednesday and Thursday. They're designed to be practical and hands-on — think "here's how we solved this problem on a real job" rather than academic presentations.

Should You Submit a Workshop?

If you've got genuine expertise in any of these areas, yes. Presenting at Groundwater Week does a few things for your business:

• Establishes authority. You're literally the person on stage teaching other professionals. That's hard to replicate with a blog post.
• Generates leads. People come up after sessions. They ask questions. They hand you cards. Some of them become customers.
• Builds your network. Other presenters and NGWA staff remember you. That opens doors to committees, publications, and future speaking gigs.
• Creates content. Your workshop deck becomes a blog post, a webinar, a lead magnet, a series of social posts. One presentation fuels months of marketing content.

The deadline is May 15, so you've got time to put together a solid proposal. Keep it noncommercial — NGWA is clear about that. Focus on teaching, not selling.

How to Get Real ROI From Groundwater Week

Going to Las Vegas for three days isn't cheap. Between flights, hotels, registration, and meals, you're looking at $2,000–$4,000 per person easily. Maybe more. So let's talk about how to make sure you come home with more than a bag of branded pens and a headache.

Before the Event

Set specific goals. "Network" isn't a goal. "Meet three potential drilling subcontractors in the Southwest region" is. "Learn about VFD pump systems from two manufacturers" is. Write them down.

Research the exhibitors. The expo map usually goes live a few weeks before the event. Identify the 10–15 booths you absolutely need to visit. Mark them. Plan a route. You can't see everything in a day, so prioritize.

Update your marketing materials. If you're going to hand someone a card, make sure that card sends them to a website that actually works. Update your Google Business Profile too — people will look you up on their phones at the expo.

Schedule meetings in advance. Don't rely on bumping into people. Email distributors, manufacturers, or potential partners ahead of time. "I'll be at Groundwater Week — can we grab 15 minutes on Wednesday?" That one email could be worth more than the entire registration fee.

During the Event

Attend workshops that fill gaps. Don't go to sessions about things you already know. Go to the ones where you'll learn something you can implement in January. Business management and workforce development sessions are especially underrated — the technical folks pack into drilling workshops while the real competitive advantages are being discussed in the business track.

Work the expo floor with purpose. Talk to manufacturers about what's new, but also ask about their dealer programs, their co-marketing opportunities, their lead referral systems. Many equipment manufacturers will help promote their certified installers — but only if you ask.

Take notes on your phone, not on paper. You'll never look at those paper notes again. Open a note app, type the person's name, what you talked about, and what you committed to following up on. Do this immediately after every meaningful conversation.

Collect contacts, not swag. LinkedIn connections made at industry events convert at a much higher rate than cold outreach. When someone scans your badge or you exchange cards, connect on LinkedIn that evening with a personal note. "Great talking about geothermal installs at the expo — let's stay in touch."

After the Event

This is where most people drop the ball. You had great conversations. You met interesting contacts. You learned useful things. And then you went back to the shop and got buried in work.

Don't let that happen.

Follow up within 48 hours. Every contact you collected gets an email or LinkedIn message. Not a sales pitch — just a "good to meet you, here's what I mentioned" note. Keep it short. Keep it human.

Write about what you learned. Blog post, newsletter, social media update — whatever your platform is. "Three Things I Learned at Groundwater Week 2026" is easy to write and shows your customers that you're staying current. Plus, it's great SEO content.

Implement one thing immediately. Pick the single best idea you picked up — a new process, a new product, a new marketing approach — and put it into action within two weeks. Otherwise, it just becomes something you "learned at that conference."

Who Should Go?

Here's a quick breakdown:

If you're running a small operation and can only send one person, send the one who's best at building relationships and implementing what they learn. Technical knowledge helps, but the biggest ROI comes from the connections.

Certification Opportunities

Groundwater Week typically includes opportunities to take NGWA certification exams or earn continuing education credits. If you've been putting off your certification — or if you have team members who need CEUs — building that into the trip makes the investment easier to justify.

NGWA certifications relevant to most attendees:

• Certified Well Driller (CWD)
• Certified Pump Installer (CPI)
• Certified Voluntary Compliance Evaluator for Large Diameter Wells (CVCLD)

Check NGWA's certification page for current requirements and exam schedules as the event approaches.

Key Dates and Deadlines

We'll update this guide as NGWA releases more details throughout the year. Bookmark it and check back.

The Bottom Line

Groundwater Week isn't just an industry event — it's the industry's living room. It's where relationships start, where knowledge transfers, and where companies that invest in showing up tend to outperform the ones that don't.

December feels far off, but the workshop submission deadline is May 15. If you're thinking about presenting, start working on that proposal now. If you're planning to attend, get it on the calendar and start budgeting.

And if you want to make sure your company's marketing foundation is solid before you start handing out business cards in Las Vegas, that's something we can help with.

We'll keep this guide updated as NGWA announces registration details, the full workshop schedule, and exhibitor information throughout 2026. Looking for marketing ideas before December? Our Groundwater Awareness Week marketing playbook has campaigns you can run right now. Questions about marketing your groundwater company? Get in touch.