Engagement and Collaboration

​​​​​​We highly value the input and perspectives of our stakeholders and commit to providing ample opportunities to participate, comment and be involved in the design of water management arrangements.  The Rural Water Use Strategy implementation is led by NRE Tas, but there are many other areas of government, government businesses, non-government organisations and individuals playing a role in managing our freshwater resources and waterways.  Reinvigorating collaboration, partnerships and engagement in water management are key to achieving the goals of the Strategy.

Advisory groups such as the Rural Water Roundtable, the Water Managers and Data Custodians Working Group, the Water Accountability Working Group and the Bass Strait Islands Water Security Strategies Working Group, plus other stakeholder consultation and involvement will guide the delivery of specific actions, enabling two-way communication on important water management issues.​​

Rural Water Roundtable

The Rural Water Roundtable is made up of water industry leaders and key stakeholders including water managers, environmental managers and industry peak bodies. The Roundtable provides perspectives and opinions to:
  • Identify opportunities for improved communication, coordination, and alignment of activities and responsibilities for sustainably managing Tasmania's water resources.
  • Inform communication and engagement about managing our precious water resources, lakes, and rivers.

Terms of Reference

The Terms of Reference for the RWR can be downloaded below:

Membership

Members of the roundtable include representatives of organisations who manage Tasmania's water resources, water users and environmental managers. A list of members is included below: 
Mem​ber​​​
​Organisation 
Mandy Clarke (Chairperson) ​
​Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania
Adam Gall
​Hydro Tasmania 
​Mike Sylvester
​Tasmanian Irrigation ​
Nathan Calman
​TasFarmers
​Mike Rose
​Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture 
​Graham Hawke
​TasWater
​Ben Morris
​Local Government Association of Tasmania 
Louise Foster
​NRM North (representing NRM regions)
John Whittington
Salmon Tasmania (representing Tasmanian seafood industry) 
​Luke McNab
​Dairy Tas
​Peter Stronach 
​Landcare Tasmania 
​Ryan Wilkinson
​Inland Fisherie​s Service ​
​Catherine Murdoch
​Environment Protection Authority​

Meetings and communiques ​

A summary of what was discussed in the Rural Water Roundtable meetings is available in the communique documents:

 Rural Water Roundtable Communique 14 October 2025 - Meeting 12 (PDF 251Kb)

 Rural Water Roundtable Communique 21 November 2024 - Meeting 11 (PDF 337Kb)

 Rural Water Roundtable Communique 27 August 2024 - Meeting 10 (PDF 75Kb)

 Rural Water Roundtable Communique 13 November 2023 - Meeting 9 (PDF 66Kb)

 Rural Water Roundtable Communique 15 May 2023​ - Meeting 8 (PDF 55Kb)

 Rural Water Roundtable Communique 16 February 2023- Meeting 7 (PDF 64Kb)

 Rural Water Roundtable Communique 7 September 2022 - Meeting 6 (PDF 65Kb)

 Rural Water Roundtable Communique 23 May 2022 - Meeting 5 (PDF 271Kb)​

 Rural Water Roundtable Communique 22 February 2022 - Meeting 4 (PDF 63Kb)

 Rural Water Roundtable Communique 15 October and 10 December 2021 - Meetings 2 & 3 (PDF 40Kb)

 Rural Water Roundtable Communique​ 20 August 2021 - Meeting 1 (PDF 62Kb)​

Water Managers and Data Custodians Working Group

Collaborative data management and sharing are important for effective freshwater management in Tasmania. Around the state, there are several large waterway health and water quality monitoring programs that collect a significant amount of useful data and serve a specific management purpose.

NRE Tas has established the Water Managers and Data Custodians Working Group to help align monitoring programs and develop collaborative partnerships in data collection and sharing.

The Working Group consists of Tasmania’s primary water managers: 
  • NRE Tas
  • Hydro Tasmania
  • Environment Protection Authority
  • Inland Fisheries Service
  • Tasmanian Irrigation
  • TasWater
The Working Group is helping to facilitate the collation and review of state-wide waterway health monitoring data, investigate existing data sharing arrangements, and consider an appropriate resourcing model for enduring, accessible, and integrated management of waterway health data.

Water Accountability Working Group

The Water Accountability Working Group has been established to support the delivery of the Water Accountability Project, including the development of the Catchment Risk Assessment Framework, and design of new fit-for-purpose risk-based water accountability measures.

The Working Group consists of organisations with significant state-wide water management responsibilities or are a peak body representing a significant proportion of water users:
  • NRE Tas
  • Hydro Tasmania
  • Tasmanian Irrigation
  • TasWater
  • TasFarmers

Bass Strait Islands Water Security Strategies Working Group

The Bass Strait Islands Water Security Strategies Working Group has been established to provide stakeholder views and advice in relation to groundwater assessments on Flinders Island and King Island, and on-island consultation and engagement.

The Working Group consists of organisations who are working to help communities on King and Flinders Islands build resilience, and plan and prepare for drought and drier conditions:
  • NRE Tas
  • TasWater
  • TasFarmers
  • Tas Farm Innovation Hub
  • Mineral Resources Tasmania
  • King Island Council
  • Flinders Council
  • Department of Premier and Cabinet​

Engaging with Tasmanian Aboriginal community

At NRE Tas we are on a pathway to understand how to engage with Tasmanian Aboriginal people to provide better connections with freshwater.  Visit Aboriginal Freshwater Interests​​ for information on how we are doing this.