Grant seeking water compliance

The Inspector-General of Water Compliance (IGWC) oversees the Murray-Darling Basin, ensuring trust and transparency in managing our precious water resources. Inside Water spoke to Troy Grant, the Inspector-General, to learn more.

As a former country police officer, Troy Grant fundamentally understands doing things right. With a 32-year public service career in government, law enforcement, emergency service, social justice, community and charity, he has lived and worked in the northern and southern Murray–Darling Basin for over 40 years. Grant maintains a sound understanding and connection to the communities in the Basin. As part of his years of service to the community, he was the Parliamentary Secretary for Natural Resources during his time in the NSW Parliament as the member for Dubbo.

“Part of my brief was to lead the community consultation on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, which was being introduced in 2012,” Grant said. “I worked with many people to author the response to the plan back to the Commonwealth on behalf of the New South Wales Government. I travelled extensively throughout New South Wales to partake in many community consultations while working with the Department to formulate a response to the proposed plan.”

It was from this unique position that he received the recommendation to become the Inspector-General of Water Compliance (IGWC).

“I was recommended for the Inspector-General of Water Compliance (IGWC) position by former interim inspector-general Mick Keelty,” said Grant. “It was an interim position at the time, so a big part of my role was building the office and contributing to the legislation drafted before the Parliament. I started in that role in December 2020 and was appointed Inspector-General by the Parliament and the Governor-General in August 2021.”

As the Inspector-General of Water Compliance, he holds a suite of delegations under the Water Act relevant to that role. For example, the Inspector-General makes decisions relating to the commencement of audits, inquiries, and enforcement actions. He’s also the main conduit for public engagements and is Chair of the Regulatory Leaders Forum.

The history of the IGWC

Many outside of the water community are unaware of the IGWC. Grant operates as an independent umpire for water compliance within the Murray-Darling Basin.

“What was very clear in the sentiment from stakeholders across the Basin was that they didn’t believe that there was a level playing field,” he said. “They believed those responsible for water management under the Basin Plan and the Commonwealth Water Act were marking their homework. Essentially, they were not being held accountable for the proper management, compliance work and oversight of the outcomes of the Basin Plan.”

In 2019, the industry and its stakeholders demanded an independent arbitrator and umpire. Keelty was initially put in charge of the northern basin, which covers parts of southern Queensland and northern New South Wales.

“This was driven primarily by a 4 Corners documentary highlighting the loss of over two trillion litres of water over seven years,” Grant said. “There was evidence of people stealing water, tampering with meters, and investing in structures that divert water into their dams and reservoirs.”

After his appointment, Keelty did considerable work, expanding the investigation to the entire Murray-Darling Basin. This resulted in his appointment as the interim Inspector-General for Water Compliance. While the states are the lead regulators for water theft, with their own obligations related to it, many of those powers have been referred to the Commonwealth. This has allowed for a comprehensive and holistic approach to developing the Basin Plan, creating a legislative tool and instrument. This is where Grant steps in.

“We are a regulator of the Commonwealth Water Act,” he said. “We regulate water markets, sensitive water market information and non-compliance within the Basin. There are also oversight powers that IGWC can use to compel information from government departments and inquiry powers, similar in power to Royal Commissions.”

Compliance

The IGWC has not stood still in developing better ways to ensure compliance across the Murray-Darling Basin. Grant has worked tirelessly on the issue.

“We are building a reporting portal that’s about 12 months from being an incredibly powerful dashboard,” Grant said. “People can log onto the dashboard to examine who has been prosecuted or pursued for compliance breaches. There are a whole range of things that we will be able to show through our mandate.”

All of this involves working with the states and territories to publicly raise confidence in the Basin’s measurement. The IGWC’s recently released metering report card shows that those efforts are coming together to support a more sustainable Basin.

“The metering report card is part of what will be a suite of user-friendly products and increase transparency for the public as to what is happening in the Basin,” said Grant. “Hopefully, more transparency will lead to more confidence in what is going on. It should also increase the accountability for those responsible for managing the water effectively. Over time, we expect performance metrics to improve, so the metering report card should create an incentive to do what is right for the Basin.”

The challenge

One of the biggest challenges of increased transparency is providing that information in a way the general public can understand. That science communication style is vital to help people understand a highly complex subject matter.

“We’ve seen plenty of times where people have read something into the results of information published that might not be an accurate reflection,” Grant said. “We need to continue to educate and communicate with the Australian public to show where the truth lies. As the IGWC, my team and I are also responsible for debunking any myths out there.”

Honest communication is central to Grant’s approach to his role. Talking about how different groups can improve is critical to improving transparency.

“We are not afraid of calling out performance or identifying areas where improvement is needed,” he said. “At the same time, we want to balance that out by acknowledging where good work is being done.”

However, this communication is just one part of the complicated challenges facing the IGWC and the Murray-Darling Basin. In Grant’s eyes, properly managing the Murray-Darling Basin is the most complex, contested, and, at times, controversial piece of public policy in Australia.

“We are talking about a finite natural resource that has incredible value to different groups,” Grant said. “We are also discussing water as a commodity, competition, and different agendas around its utilisation. The challenge for the IGWC is ensuring that the agreed-upon plan returns the right amount of water into the system. It needs to balance socio-economic, environmental, First Nations cultural, and community needs.”

The Basin Plan will also report on the legally allocated water rights as they fit within sustainable diversion limits. The report card will be central to assuring the public that people are playing by and complying with the rules set down by the IGWC and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA).

Trust and confidence

Trust and confidence in the IGWC’s work will be central to its growth in terms of what it can do and how it is viewed. The IGWC’s social license to operate will represent its report card. This is established by the community consultations that the IGWC has conducted.

“We are already surveying the community about our role and what they understand of it,” Grant said. “The very strong sentiment from those surveys is that the community desperately needs us. They want us to remain independent, which is the most important point. The community is looking for more oversight, accountability and reporting on the performance of water users within the Basin.”

While people generally want better management and oversight, one of the IGWC’s challenges is that not everyone is willing to let it into what they consider ‘their space’.

“It’s all about relationship building,” said Grant. “We want to develop a positive relationship with each jurisdiction or agency so that we do not have to go hard with our compelling powers. That relationship building has been key to improving trust and confidence across the Basin.”

The IGWC’s future remains bright, mainly as it works to be the trusted and honest truthteller for the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

“It’s taken time for us to get established, get all our frameworks and systems functioning, and we’ve done well to do all that in just a couple of years,” Grant said. “We’ve already had an enormous impact with water managers seeking accreditation across all Basin states and territories. We will continue to call out better water management while ensuring continual improvement and integrity.”

For more information, visit https://www.igwc.gov.au/ or call 13IGWC (13 44 92)