Delivering environmental water: The role of government, NGOs and the community

This session will highlight lessons learned from developing environmental watering arrangements in Australia, with a focus on bureaucratic challenges and involving the community in delivering environmental water. National, state, and local perspectives will be provided on the topic. Speakers will outline environmental watering arrangements in Australia, explain concepts that need to be understood by the bureaucracy and adjustments that need to be made to bureaucratic practices. Partnerships between water managers and the community have been vital to the successful delivery of environmental water, and have been developed at basin-wide, valley-specific, and local levels. Speakers will outline their experiences collaborating with communities at these three different levels. A panel discussion that follows will try to distil lessons learned that may have relevance to water managers working in a wide range of contexts who wish to involve the community in delivering environmental water.

Chair: Nick Schofield, CEO, Australian Water Partnership

3.30: Introduction
3.35: Basin-wide participation of communities in environmental water delivery – David Papps, Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder
3.55: Lessons from engaging with environmental water advisory groups in the state of New South Wales – Justen Simpson, New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage
4.15: Facilitating involvement of local communities in environmental water delivery within State and National frameworks  – Natalie Stalenberg, Nature Foundation South Australia
4.35: Questions and discussion: Principles for involving the community in delivering environmental water