Are our cities ready for a diversified water supply?

Read the wrap-up article from the last Water Security Series.

View the video of Water Security Series: Are our cities ready for a diversified water supply held on Wednesday 15 April 2020.

Topic: Are our cities ready for a diversified water supply?

Overview

Our webinar panellists will tackle the big questions facing our city’s future water supply.

  • How can we better integrate all aspects of urban water capture, distribution, use and treatment?
  • How can we ensure water security in the context of population growth and climate change?
  • What should Melbourne’s future water infrastructure look like?
  • What is the future of water treatment and waste discharge?
  • How can we preserve ecosystems while increasing water recycling and treatment?

Australia is predicted to face a water crisis within the next 50 years. Worst-case scenarios for Melbourne suggest demand could outstrip supply by as soon as 2028. Be part of the solution as we work towards Australia’s water secure future.

Speakers

David Sheehan

Senior Water Quality & Regulatory Advisor, Coliban Water

David Sheehan has 35 years’ experience in the Australian water industry. David is currently employed by Coliban Water in the role of Senior Water Quality and Regulatory Advisor. In this role, David provides the business with strategic advice to ensure that Coliban Water supplies fit-for-purpose drinking water, recycled water and wastewater, as well as ensuring that Coliban Water meets all its regulatory obligations with respect to the various types of water that it supplies to its customers and discharges to the environment. Prior to starting at Coliban Water, David spent nine years working at the Victorian Department of Health in the role of Team Leader, Water Regulation. This role consisted of overseeing the administration of Victoria’s Safe Drinking Water Act 2003 and Safe Drinking Water Regulations 2005. David is also on the Board of Water Research Australia. Prior to joining the Victorian Department of Health, David has also worked for a private water testing laboratory (SGS) in rural Victoria, and Sydney Water.

Stuart Wilson

Deputy Executive Director, Water Services Association of Australia

Stuart Wilson is the Deputy Executive Director with the Water Services Association of Australia. He oversees WSAA’s policy development and advocacy on regulatory and institutional reform. Before joining WSAA he worked at Sydney Water as Principal Economist and Manager, Regulatory Strategy and Pricing.

Assoc Prof Meenakshi Arora

The University of Melbourne

Dr Meenakshi Arora is an an Associate Professor and Assistant Dean International in the Melbourne School of Engineering at The University of Melbourne. She teaches Water and Waste Water Management, Civil Hydraulics, Engineering Risk Analysis and supervises Masters and PhD students. Dr Arora has extensive experience in water resources and and integrated urban water research and teaching. She completed her PhD from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India in August 2006 on Fluoride and Arsenic removal from underground water. Dr Arora has close collaboration with Victorian water authorities such as Melbourne Water, Yarra Valley Water, City West Water and industries including BP, Veolia Environment and PANalytica. She has made significant contributions in understanding the integrated urban water cycle modelling, water-energy nexus and interactions between various centralised and decentralised water supply systems and their impacts on the existing infrastructure.

Chair, Dr Sharon Davis

The University of Melbourne

Sharon is a Senior Enterprise Fellow at the University of Melbourne. She has more than 20 years’ experience in the public sector, at both the state and federal levels, leading water and natural resource management policy, technical and R&D programs.

Throughout her career she has focussed on bridging science and policy to inform decision making. In 2011 Sharon was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Harvard University to work with the Harvard Water Security Initiative. She is one of 80 women from around the world selected as part of the 2020 Homeward Bound women in STEMM leadership program. She has a PhD in Catchment Hydrology and is a Director of Water Practice Consulting.

  • Video of Water Security Event