
Collaborating globally to future proof Australia’s water resources
9 January 2024
How do you effectively manage the ever-evolving supply and demand challenges of water resources?
The Murray–Darling Basin is of significant environmental, cultural, and economic value to Australia. 40% of Australia’s agricultural produce comes from the Basin, contributing $24 billion to the Australian economy every year.
The challenges posed by competing water use applications and climate change are increasing the risk that water demand from the Basin may outstrip the supply, meaning water may not be able available when communities need it.
Our team of water regulation and policy experts worked closely with all stakeholders to help our client develop an approach to improving understanding of how much water is used across the Basin so that it can be used effectively across all sectors reliant on water.
We developed a regulatory plan to increase metering compliance
Understanding water usage is the first step in being able to effectively manage supply and demand challenges. However, across the region, the uptake on meter telemetry has been slow, and is not mandated in some Government areas.
This low uptake results in a lack of real-time information being sent to system operators, managers, and Governments, hindering their ability to make informed decisions about the best approaches to managing the supply-demand balance.
Our team were able to draw on our global expertise and comparators to advise the client to establish a robust policy and regulatory agenda.
We recommended the adoption of a nationally consistent approach to metering and compliance which covered the role of telemetry and its technical standards, as well as the priorities of the Commonwealth to accelerate the uptake of telemetry in the Basin.
We defined processes to facilitate the uptake of metering telemetry, enabling a consistent approach across jurisdictions to metering compliance and technical standards
We identified the required capability within delivery agencies and the private sector through the introduction of effective regulatory management and reporting. We provided several recommendations on further priority solutions to be progressed to the feasibility stage that would support metering uptake.
Finally, we developed a solution to enable stakeholders to more effectively manage water usage in the region
We developed a framework and approach for an interim solution that balanced different user needs and increased reliance on data-driven decision-making. Our work set out a roadmap of high-level processes and user requirements which can be used to develop future compliance solutions.
Find out how we can help our clients in Water
Related Case Studies

Improving data preparation and collection for better State Government decisions
How do you collect and translate inconsistent data from disparate systems to better inform and evaluate the impact of spend policies?
Read more
Putting a social outcomes lens over an IT RFP for an Australian government agency
How do you change how vendors see their systems, so responses align with agency outcomes and non-functional requirements?
Read more
How Baringa supported Colt Technology with its CRM transformation
Join our TMT Partner Dan Nicholson, as he talks to our client Colt Technology
Read more
Shifting the paradigm from projects to products – Lessons from UK Home Office
Who is responsible for evolution of the services and digital products created by programmes that have ended? A question faced to all Government departments as they try to embed the principles set out in the Blueprint for a Modern Digital Government.
Read moreIs digital and AI delivering what your business needs?
Digital and AI can solve your toughest challenges and elevate your business performance. But success isn’t always straightforward. Where can you unlock opportunity? And what does it take to set the foundation for lasting success?