Campbell Fitzpatrick Pty Ltd

Our Water Our Future was adopted as the Victorian Government water policy. It drove major water reforms including; major amendments to the Water Act 1989; the amalgamation of water authorities; the introduction of new water planning arrangements that incorporated climate change; the preparation of regional water strategies and urban water supply demand plans; the unbundling of water entitlements; the creation of the Victorian Water Register and State water accounts; the introduction of powers to reconfiguration in irrigation districts and the adoption of revised urban water pricing principles. This project involved extensive stakeholder and community engagement.,Central Region Water Strategy provided a 50-year strategy for managing the water resources of the Central Region. The Central Region covered the Melbourne metropolitan area and surrounds. and focused on supplying the growing population of Melbourne in the face of reduced water availability due to climate change. It drove major water reforms including; introduction of water conservation targets; the introduction of water recycling targets; the formal adoption of reticulating recycled water in new subdivisions; reconnecting Tarrago Reservoir to Melbourne; the development of the water grid and Increased environmental flows. This project involved extensive stakeholder and community engagement.,Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy 2009 This Strategy provided a 50-year strategy for managing the water resources of northern Victoria. This Region includes Victoria’s major irrigation areas and draws on the shared water resources of the Murray River. It drove major water reforms including: revised reservoir reserve and allocation policies to improve water security during droughts; enhanced individual carryover rules in storages to enable individuals to manage their own water reliability; enabling water to trade between irrigation and urban areas; further development of the water grid; implementing seasonally adaptive environmental water management,The Victorian government released ‘Water for Victoria” (WfV) at the end of 2016. WfV is the government’s strategic plan for managing the state’s water resources. I was a member of the expert Reference Group established to provide independent advice to the Department and Minister on the content of the strategic plan. I also provided assistance in drafting chapter 4 of WfV which discussed water management policy related to agriculture.,The Project Control Group (PCG) is a three-person board appointed by the Minister to reset and deliver the $2 billion “Connections Project” to modernize the Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District (GMID). The Victorian and Commonwealth government have invested in the project to modernize irrigation infrastructure to reduce water delivery losses and improve service levels. Water saved by improving delivery efficiency is primarily being used to increase environmental flows in the Murray River. The PCG was appointed by the Minister in response to a midterm review which found there were serious problems with project delivery.