Agenda Day 1  - 25 February 2010

8:30 Registration opens

8:55 Welcome and opening remarks from the Chairperson

Dr John Williams, chairman, Natural Resources Commission

9:00 OPENING KEYNOTE ADDRESS
The state of the water industry in NSW

The Hon Phillip Costa MP, Minister for Water and Regional Development NSW

9:30 CASE STUDY
Water for the future - A stocktake

Dr James Horne, deputy secretary, water group, Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts

10:15 Morning tea

10:45 KEYNOTE CASE STUDY
Tackling the challenge of restoring the Murray River - An update on the Basin Plan

• Considering issues relating to planning for Basin resource management
• Improving security and certainty for water users
• Working with other entities to achieve outcomes - Your role under the Plan

Robert Freeman, CEO, Murray Darling Basin Authority

11:30 LEGAL UPDATE
Legal insights into water trading

• Understanding emerging issues in water law
• The national water market - Opportunities and risks
• lawlab Water Law Award 2010

Ian Perkins, CEO and Richard Bootle, director, lawlab
Winner of the lawlab Water Law Award (TBA)

12:15 Networking lunch

1:15 CASE STUDY
Meeting the challenge of climate change through sustainable water management

• Integrating water management elements to ensure sustainable use and security of supply
• The "Think water act water" strategy - Update and review
• Future priorities and directions

David Papps, chief executive, ACT Department of Environment, Climate Change, Energy and Water

2:00 CASE STUDY
Integrating sustainability best-practice into business management - The Sydney Water experience

• Identifying and assessing risk exposure to climate change and variability
• Developing business capacity and implementing efficiencies to ensure future water security
• Overcoming challenges and leveraging opportunities

Dr Judi Hansen, general manager - sustainability, Sydney Water Corporation

2:45 Afternoon tea

3:15 CASE STUDY
Water for a healthy country - A CSIRO case study

• Focusing on sustainable urban water management
• Addressing the nexus between water and energy
• Providing research to support the implementation of state-led water strategies

Alan Gregory, theme leader, urban water research, Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, CSIRO

4:00 CASE STUDY
Diversifying supply for future water security in South Australia

• Exploring the potential of alternative water supply to ensure future sustainability in a changing environment
• Considering the viability of stormwater and desalination in overall water supply management
• Clarifying future priorities and projects in the pipeline

John Ringham, chief operating officer, SA Water Corporation

4:45 Concluding remarks from the Chairperson

5:00 Networking drinks function

Agenda Day 2 - 26 February 2010

8:30 Registration opens

8:55 Welcome and opening remarks from the Chairperson

Stewart McLeod, chair, Water Directorate

9:00 KEYNOTE CASE STUDY
A national approach to water reform in Australia

• Assessing progress of the National Water Initiative: Lessons from the National Water Commission's biennial assessment
• Enhancing effectiveness of stakeholder engagement in water planning
• Promoting an integrated rather than piecemeal approach to reform

James Cameron, deputy CEO, National Water Commission

9:45 CASE STUDY
Developing a contingency plan for sustainable water management

• Considering the context for developing a contingency plan - Climate change, reduced supply reliability and ageing infrastructure
• Establishing the timeline for key decisions
• Integrating elements of water management from supply interconnectivity to infrastructure modernisation and improved use of the water market
• Future outlook and priorities

Gavin Hanlon, managing director, Coliban Water

10:30 Morning tea

11:00 KEYNOTE COMMENTARY
Facing challenges in water management - The opposition's perspective
A clean water revolution:

• The current challenges facing the industry
• Getting water reform back on track
• Priorities for water infrastructure
• Investing in water security

The Hon Ian Macfarlane MP, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Water

11:30 CASE STUDY
The role of irrigation modernisation planning in long-term water management strategy

• Modernising water delivery
• Adapting to a future of water scarcity
• Improving risk management in a changing environment
• Experiences and lessons learned

Brett Tucker, managing director, Murrumbidgee Irrigation

12:15 PANEL DISCUSSION
Moving water - Weighing up the options

• What needs to be done to ensure future sustainability for Australian rural communities?
• Do we need to move water to towns, or do towns need to move to where the water is?

Chair: Vaughan Pearce, head of Rural Water Services, MWH
Panellists: Brett Tucker, CEO, Murrumbidgee Irrigation; Kent Boyd, director of Infrastructure, Parkes Shire Council; Stewart McLeod, chair, Water Directorate

12:45 Networking lunch

1:30 CASE STUDY
Leadership in water recycling and reuse

• Achieving 100 percent beneficial reuse of waste water over the past decade - It's reasonably easy
• Dealing with the difficulty of achieving environmentally sustainable wastewater reuse together with satisfactory financial outcomes
• Pricing recycled water and justifying the expense of reuse schemes

Les Mathieson, managing director, East Gippsland Water

2:15 CASE STUDY
Reforming Tasmania's water and sewerage sector

• Coordinating a regional approach to water and sewerage management
• Delivering a program of infrastructure and service improvements
• Improving sustainability and accountability - The Compliance Implementation Plan

Mike Paine, CEO, Southern Water

3:00 Concluding remarks from the Chairperson and close of conference