Our bespoke team in the Lower Balonne

Watertrust Australia is a small organisation, but the problems we work on are not for the fainthearted. Often at the coalface of long-held disagreement and policy deadlock, they require a very particular mix of experience and expertise.

For Watertrust this doesn’t mean bigger teams or more staff, it means drawing on the relationships we have and the expertise that already exists. That way we can harness the right people for particular challenges when needed, without having to increase our size as an organisation.

In the case of our Initiative in the Lower Balonne having the right team was crucial to the Initiative becoming a reality.

Watertrust Principal Mike Peat who leads our Lower Balonne Initiative says the first step in getting the Initiative off the ground was to assemble a team with the right relationships, trust and knowledge of the system.

“We needed a team who would provide Watertrust with some legitimacy at this early stage.” Mike says, “Having the right people has not only opened the door to engagement, it has meant that people have taken a new player in this space, like Watertrust, seriously.”

“That collective experience has been really critical to consolidate and accelerate the impact we have had so far. They are all also very trusted by the different stakeholders living and working in that catchment.”

“People in the area say, they’ve got the people, they are genuine about coming and doing something new and they’ve got the right people doing the job.”

“Another important point is that the people we are working with are already really respected and trusted by government agencies.”

So who are Watertrust’s team working in the Lower Balonne?

Michelle Ramsay and Greg Claydon have been helping Watertrust convene forums with different interest groups in the Lower Balonne.

Michelle is an irrigator and grazier who lives and works in the neighbouring catchment. For the past two decades, Michelle has built up a high degree of trust as well as a deep knowledge of the systems complexities. She cites her time conducting engagements and researching impacts as co-author and panel member for theIndependent Assessment of Social and Economic Conditions in the Murray-Darling Basin Reportas a key experience that deepened her knowledge of the Lower Balonne.

Greg is a water industry professional with experience going back decades and an incredible breadth and depth of knowledge of the system. His experience includes time living in St George where he worked to manage flows in the Lower Balonne system. Greg has spent his career of more than 40 years in operational, program management, planning, policy and regulatory roles across government.

Paul Harding and Lindsay White are both providing technical and modelling support, working one day a week. Paul Harding built the original hydrology models used in the Lower-Balonne, so there is no one more qualified for this role. He has over 40 years’ experience in modelling river systems and has worked on the Condamine-Balonne system for 35 years.

Lindsay started his career in fisheries and has a PhD in Eco hydraulics. He has a high degree of expertise in conveying complex ecological information.

Bhiamie Williamson has also recently come on board to contribute to the Initiative as a Cultural Advisor. Bhiamie is a Euahlayi man from north-west New South Wales, which takes in the Lower Balonne catchment, and an Associate Professor at Monash University where he leads the National Indigenous Disaster Resilience Program. First Nations people have been historically left out of water sharing processes, so this is an important area for the Initiative.

Mike says that the team working on the Initiative means there is already momentum at this early stage. Many of them are involved because they care about the region and the issues that arise during dry periods.

“We were able to convince them to join the project, in large part because they recognise that there are several longstanding challenges in the catchment and they see a new opportunity to overcome them,” he says.

“They saw a real opportunity in working with Watertrust and wanted to make the most of that.”

Like to know more? Call Mike via our office number: 0480 654 380.

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