Rural water challenges need clarity, connection and co-design

The challenges facing regional, rural and remote (RRR) water management in Australia are growing more complex – from variable water quality, uncertain water security and ageing infrastructure to the deep structural gaps affecting service equity.

Janice Wilson, Double Black Diamond Solutions Managing Director and Principal Engineer, and Chair of the AWA Regional, Rural and Remote Specialist Network, said it’s time to lean into collaborative, risk-based approaches, with the specialist network currently working to support meaningful progress in the face of uncertainty.

"We focus on rural, regional and remote communities across Australia, which means we have a giant geographical portfolio. We're here to advocate, facilitate information exchange, and provide a network for connection through that lens,” she said.

“One of the things we’re aiming to do this year with the RRR network is more collaborative joint member circles – because RRR touches on all other networks. No matter who you sit next to at an AWA event, there’s always something in common.

“The specialist networks – the way I see it – are like a quilt. The quilt is the water sector. Each network is a different colour or pattern, and when it all weaves together, the linkages are there. That’s beautiful.”

The connections present across various areas of the water sector are an opportunity to grow stronger, work more closely and gain deeper insight, Wilson said.

“RRR people will just get together no matter what. It’s a neighbourly thing. You run out of sugar, you ask your neighbour. If you’re in the middle of a cyclone and someone is out of generators, you meet halfway on the Bruce Highway to hand one over,” she said.

“We know we can’t do this solo. That’s the common link in the RRR space.”

Pressure points

Earlier this year, the network came together to refine its key focus areas for the coming year. Wilson said water quality is still one of the biggest challenges in the RRR arena, as well as service gaps.

“We did a specialist network member survey, asking: what are the things on your mind?” she said.

“Water quality in remote, regional and rural areas came through as a key issue – both the lack of quality and the changing nature of it. Often, there's inadequate infrastructure to manage those changes.”

Addressing disparity in the regions is another huge challenge, Wison said: “This is about identifying what needs to be uplifted in order to provide a consistent level of service”.

“I drive out to remote areas regularly – it can be pretty shocking. Closely linked to disparity of service is the water-related requirements under Closing the Gap, a highly significant area of work in itself,” she said.

“Behind those issues are the challenges in delivering infrastructure. Is it fit for purpose? Is it operable? Maintainable? We’ve got to make sure what we have is suitable. Regional water sustainability needs to be defined by regional stakeholders. When we talk about water resilience, are we actually co-designing things with regional communities?”

The discourse around resilience needs a revisit, too, Wilson said, with the current attitude that people who live in the regions are automatically ‘resilient’ can be unhelpful and damaging.

“Motherland CEO Stephanie Trethewey wrote a brilliant article about her dislike of the ‘resilient’ label. It’s become a glorified word that can do more harm than good. It creates pressure to just tough it out,” she said.

“If I apply that concept to resilient water, sometimes it’s really challenging to do that. We’ve seen it with the most recent floods in Queensland or the 2019 bushfires – those events have massive impacts on the water sector.

“So, when we talk about water resilience, I tread carefully. It’s an evolving definition, and we have to ask ourselves – why do we need to be resilient?”

Leaning into uncertainty

Despite the complexity of the challenges facing RRR water, Wilson said clearly prioritising issues based on risk is an important place to focus energy.

“The analogy I often use when mentoring is: figure out which of the balls you’re juggling are rubber and which ones are glass. We can afford to drop some rubber, it won’t break; but we really need to focus on making sure we don’t drop the glass balls,” she said.

“We need to develop the skill to sit in uncertainty and still make decisions that don’t close off future pathways or cause regret. If I had to pick one skill that’s absolutely critical for the RRR space – apart from clearly communicating priorities – it would be decision-making in uncertain environments.

“We’ve got all these challenges – water quality, service consistency, Closing the Gap, infrastructure delivery, resilience. We’re looking at assets coming to the end of their service life. Something needs to be done. But I don’t think we can do it all.”

Such is the water sector, there are plenty of amazing examples of innovation and collaboration occurring. Wilson said there are plenty of opportunities to apply digital and AI technologies to RRR challenges, for example.

“But first, we need to be really thoughtful around picking what we do as a sector – considering our risks, prioritising smartly, and delivering what’s most important,” she said.

Interested in learning more about the AWA Regional, Rural and Remote Specialist Network? Find out more here.