Regional Water Summit 2025
Water Security and Resilience for the Tropical North
Hosted by Regional Development Australia Tropical North (RDATN) and supported by JCU TNQ Drought hub, this summit brought together community, government, and industry leaders to address one of Far North Queensland’s most pressing issues: water security. With more than 70 attendees, the event created a platform for collaboration, evidence-sharing, and future planning.
Summit Objectives:
- Explore current water challenges from multiple perspectives in the Tropical North region.
- Understand the water policy and planning regimes.
- Develop innovative solutions to address water security issues and capitalise on water opportunities for the Tropical North.
- Develop water smart and resilient partnerships for the region.
Key Themes
- Opportunity Identification
Uncovering and acting on regional strengths and advantages. - Consensus Building
Creating unified approaches among diverse stakeholders. - Stable Planning Process
A need for enduring and coordinated regional planning structures. - Key Opportunities
Including a focus on RDE&D (Research, Development, Extension & Deployment). - State Willingness & Leadership
Leadership buy-in and commitment from state actors is essential. - Affordability Challenges
Notably in regions like Athalia, where access and equity are strained. - Institutional Strength
Ensuring systems and agencies are fit for purpose and sustainable. - Equitable Investment
Achieving a fair share of infrastructure and service investment across regions.
Setting the scene
Master of Ceremonies
Prof Hurriyet Babacan
Chair
RDA Tropical North
Facilitator
Prof Allan Dale
Chief Scientist
CRC for Developing Northern Australia
Workshop Summary
Facilitated by Prof Allan Dale, the workshops allowed participants to discuss key challenges and propose practical solutions across three core streams: urban, industrial, and additional water issues.
Key Challenges Identified:
- Aged infrastructure and funding required for modernisation
- Lack of alignment between State and Federal government
- Literacy and education around market function
- Needing a defined value of water
- Workforce and skills shortage
- Inadequate investment assessment models
- Lack of fit-for-purpose policy and slow regulatory processes
- Emergency preparedness gaps, particularly in remote areas
Proposed Solutions:
- Aligned approaches to dealing with resilience
- Mobilisation of an agreed clear vision and strategy
- Audit of existing water development approaches and opportunities within catchments
- Strengthen Indigenous engagement through formal inclusion in planning
- Unlock Water Development through strategic business cases
- Long term Research and development with focus on profitability
- Further developing granularity of climate models and impacts
- Investment in the development of partnerships
Next Steps and Recommendations
- Framework Development: Progress a Regional Development Framework to unify planning, investment, and governance.
- Regional Water Taskforce: Establish a collaborative cross-institutional taskforce to drive coordinated strategy development, investment and implementation.
- Infrastructure Prioritisation: Within this process, identify and fast-track critical water projects.
- First Nations Inclusion: Embed Traditional Owners into formal decision-making processes.
- Policy Advocacy: Push for institutional reform in how water projects are assessed, funded, and regulated.
Speaker Presentations
State Government
- Sean Dillon MP, Assistant Minister for Primary Industry Development, Water and Western Queensland reinforced the state’s commitment to empowering local leadership, stating:
“We’ll help you develop a strategy. You itemise the plans, and we’ll find a way to support that through regulation. If infrastructure is required, we’ll work collaboratively with the private sector to deliver it. Broadly speaking, we’re letting the regions lead us to where they want to go—and we’ll give them the tools to get there.”
- Ingrid Fomiatti Minnesma, Director, North Region, Department of Local Government, Water and Volunteers highlighted the importance of aligning state frameworks with community needs, particularly in the face of increasing climate variability and drought.
Water Challenges
- Amanda Hancock, Regional Strategic Infrastructure Coordinator, FNQROC, demonstrated that investment in dams generates long-term regional uplift, highlighting the need to reform cost-benefit models that overlook these outcomes.
- Katrina Savo, Director of Environment and Sustainability, Napranum Aboriginal Council, outlined the operational realities of remote water management—balancing limited resourcing with environmental and community expectations.
- Mayor Amy Eden, Cairns Regional Council, discussed major infrastructure planning for the Cairns Water Security Project and emphasised the need for sustainability in urban water systems.
- Josephine Raftery, Lead, Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Advocate, LGAQ, spoke about the ageing infrastructure cliff and regulatory burden faced by councils, calling for long-term partnerships and reform in funding models.
Industrial Water Issues
- Sonja Johnson, CEO, RDA Tropical North, presented the FNQ Agricultural Masterplan, linking water security to regional growth, investment confidence, and long-term planning across the Lakeland and Etheridge precincts.
- Joe Moro, Chair, FNQ Growers, echoed the urgency for reliable water allocations to protect local farming and support economic development.
- Dr Alicia Kennedy, General Manager, Water and Energy, QFF, discussed affordability, water-use efficiency, and the role of policy in supporting diversified agricultural production.
- Michael Hughes, General Manger, Sunwater, emphasised infrastructure renewal, inter-basin transfers, and the need for adaptive, forward-looking investment strategies.
First Nations and Water Equity
- Dr Jim Turnour, JCU the Cairns Institute, presented on Indigenous water rights, linking legal frameworks such as UNDRIP and the Queensland Human Rights Act with current water planning, particularly across Cape York.
Water in Emergencies
- Ben Baillie, Manager of Water and Waste, Douglas Shire Council, shared lessons from Cyclone Jasper, including emergency water restrictions and the need for responsive infrastructure to withstand disaster events.
- Prof Hurriyet Babacan, Chair, RDA Tropical North, reinforced the findings from the FNQ Regional Drought Resilience Plans—water is the number one strategic priority across Cape York, Wet Tropics and the Gulf Hinterland.
Sean Dillon MP
Assistant Minister for Primary Industry Development, Water and Western Queensland
Queensland Governments Vision for Agriculture
Ingrid Fomiatti Minnesma
Executive Director, North Region, Department of Local Governement, Water and Volunteers
Water Planning Frameworks
DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION HERE
Amanda Hancock
Regional Strategic Infrastructure Coordinator,
Far North Queensland Regional Organisation of Councils
Long Term Analysis of the Role of Dams
Katrina Savo
Director of Environment and Sustainability,
Napranum Aboriginal Shire Council
Domestic Water Supply and Allocations
Mayor Amy Eden
Cairns Regional Council
Cairns Water Security Project
Josephine Raftery
Lead, Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Advocate,
Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ)
Capacity of Councils to Meet Water Needs
DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION HERE
Sonja Johnson
CEO, Regional Development Australia Tropical North
Potential for an FNQ Agricultural Masterplan
DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION HERE
Joe Moro
Chair, FNQ Growers
Challenges for Local Growers
Alicia Kennedy
General Manager, Water and Enegery,
Queensland Farmer’s Federation
Future of Agriculture and
Water in the North
DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION HERE
Michael Hughes
General Manager Water Resources,
Sunwater
Sunwater’s role, vision and challenges
Jim Turnour
JCU The Cairns Institute
Indigenous Water Rights and Management
DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION HERE
Ben Baillie
Manager of Water and Waste,
Douglas Shire Council
Access to Water During Disasters
DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION HERE
Prof Hurriyet Babacan
Chair,
RDA Tropical North
Regional Drought Resilience Plans for the TNQ
DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION HERE
Regional Water Forum to identify Tropical North’s potential
A regional approach to the sustainable use of water in the Tropical North will be discussed at the Regional Water Forum at James Cook University in Cairns today (May 27).
Regional Development Australia (RDA) Tropical North has organised the Forum to bring together the three levels of government, Sunwater, and stakeholders including FNQ Growers and the Queensland Farmers Federation.
RDA Tropical North Chair Hurriyet Babacan said the region had strong frameworks for water allocation planning at a local level, but needs to be strengthened at a regional level for the sustainable development and use of water.
Media Coverage
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Cairns Post 29th May 2025 |
Cape York Weekly 10th June 2025 |
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27th May 2025 |
TNQ Drought Hub 29th May 2025
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