Advisory Panel

The Water Conservancy has an Advisory Panel which provides strategic oversight of The Water Conservancy’s activities.

Meredith Macpherson, Program Manager, Central NSW Joint Organisation Water Utilities Alliance

Meredith has been the Program Manager for the Central NSW Joint Organisation Water Utilities Alliance since 2012. She provides strategic and policy advice to the CNSWJO Board in delivering its priorities for regional water use. Meredith works with local water utilities aiming to achieve operational efficiencies and best practice in compliance based service delivery for the communities of central NSW.

Jeremy Cape

Jeremy is currently the Chair of the Smart Water Mark Expert Panel, a role he has held since 2004. He has been involved in evaluating equipment and technology for water conservation, particularly in the irrigation industry, for over twenty-five years. During his career he managed the Australian Irrigation Technology Centre, helped to form the National Irrigation Science Network and played a pivotal role in the establishment of the CRC for Irrigation Futures. In his career he has managed many projects which have focussed on ways to improve water management, both in Australia and internationally.

Joel Spry, Power and Water

Joel heads up the Water Demand Management team at Power and Water which operates right across the vast expanses of the Northern Territory. Joel is Chair of the WSAA Water Efficiency Network and co-chair of the AWA Water Literacy and Education Specialist Network. Joel has 7 years experience in urban and remote water demand management, consulting on the Victorian irrigation modernisation program, leading sustainable and regenerative agriculture programs for the Victorian government and community engagement.

Stuart Wilson, Deputy Executive Director, Water Services Association of Australia

Stuart is an economist who has held a wide variety of senior policy positions in the public and private sectors specialising in infrastructure issues. Currently he is the Deputy Executive Director with the Water Services Association of Australia. Before joining WSAA he worked at Sydney Water as Principle Economist and Manager, Regulatory Strategy and Pricing for 7 years. During that time he oversaw a number of regulatory price reviews and was heavily involved in commercial transactions such as the lease to the private sector of the Sydney Desalination plant.

Karen Owens, Head of Corporate Communications and Marketing, Melbourne Water

Karen has is an experienced marketing, business development and program development manager. In her current role at Melbourne Water she has grown the brand and water literacy program over the past two years and has increased water literacy levels of Melburnians by 13 percentage points during this time. Karen is also a member of the AWA Water Literacy and education specialist network.