Fraser Clark
Fraser is the Head of Strategy, Three Waters for Wellington Water, where his role is to map out the future of water services for the Wellington region. He is also a member of the Water New Zealand Board. Prior to joining Wellington Water he spent a number of years in senior roles in the electricity sector, including with the competition regulator.
Iain Rabbitts
Iain Rabbitts is a freelance Principal Process Engineer with a focus on drinking water. He has over 30 years’ experience in water treatment. He was part of an expert panel providing evidence to the Havelock North Public Inquiry. For the last couple of years, he has been working with operations teams around the country, helping to improve outcomes.
David Hughes-Owen
David has worked in the water industry for almost 30 years. He joined Busselton Water in September 2023 after three years as General Manager Service Delivery at Taswater overseeing statewide operations and maintenance of water and wastewater treatment. David spent 25 years at Water Corporation Western Australia leading state-wide infrastructure growth and renewal planning and investment programs and undertook a broad range of business, planning, operational and maintenance activities across a large geographical area. His experience covers industry operations, including; rural and metropolitan water source, treatment and networks, sewerage network and treatment, and urban and rural drainage.
Andreas Heuser
Andreas Heuser is Managing Director of Castalia and co-leads its Asia-Pacific business. Since 2019 Andreas has led Castalia’s work on NZ water reform for clients including LGNZ, individual councils, and the 30 councils comprising Communities 4 Local Democracy (C4LD). Andreas reviewed and critiqued the previous government’s reform, and developed an alternative reform model, which was later adopted as the basis for the current Government’s “Local Water Done Well” policy. Since February 2024, Andreas has chaired the Government’s Technical Advisory Group on Local Water Done Well and guided the Government’s policy development and design of the economic regulation regime to be enacted this year. Andreas advises governments, utilities, regulators, and investors on improving financing, regulation, and organisational performance of water businesses in New Zealand, Australia, Pacific Islands and South-East Asia. Andreas is also a leading expert on the energy transition and integrating sustainable energy sources in New Zealand and the Pacific. He is qualified in law and economics.
Elizabeth Macpherson
Dr Elizabeth Macpherson is Pākehā (A New Zealander of European-settler descent) and is a Professor of Law and Rutherford Discovery Fellow at the University of Canterbury. Her research interests are in comparative environmental, natural resources, and constitutional law. She has led numerous grants and published widely on water and marine law and policy, especially as they relate to Indigenous rights and interests, in Australasia and the Americas. She is the author of the award-winning book Indigenous Water Rights in Law and Regulation: Lessons from Comparative Experience (2019, Cambridge University Press) and leads a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship programme, funded by Te Āparangi The Royal Society, on Blue Carbon Futures in Aotearoa New Zealand: Law, Climate, Resilience.
Charles Ropitini
Pou Ahurea Principal Advisor for Relationships, Responsiveness and Heritage, Heretaunga Hastings District Council
Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Whawhakia
Charles is a third space practitioner who works as Pou Ahurea at Heretaunga Hastings District Council. As a third space practitioner, Charles is the interface between Council and mana whenua, enabling integration of engineering thought and mātauranga Māori in co-design practices and outcomes. It takes deep expertise, knowledge, and years of practice, experimentation and risk-taking to become a third space practitioner, and Charles works hard to foster trusted relationships where people are willing to invest in co-designed projects. Charles considers himself a cultural engineer tasked with engineering the culture of Heretaunga back into the landscape.
Tipa Mahuta
Kei te riu o Waikato, ko Rahui Pookeka, ko Waahi Paa, Ko Ngati Mahuta e tau ana.
Tipa Mahuta is from Rahui Pookeka (Huntly) and grew up at Waahi Paa with the impacts of the Huntly Power Project and coal mining on local communities. She collected oral histories from kaumātua and supported the establishment of the tribal Tira Hoe, to return this history to descendants of the river.
Tipa has held a wide range of governance roles including Iwi and local government positions. Tipa is the Co-Chair Iwi Appointee of the Waikato River Authority and Co-Chair of Te Aka Whai Ora (Māori Health Authority).
Nick Brown
Nick Brown, Senior Manager at Auckland Council, specialises in flood risk management. Since the 2023 Auckland Anniversary floods, Nick has been deeply immersed in addressing its impacts. With over 25 years of experience, he has spearheaded Auckland Council’s flooding categorisation process. From collaborating on the scheme with Central Government to developing comprehensive flood risk frameworks, Nick has been integral at every stage of flood recovery efforts.
Prior to the 2023 floods, Nick played a pivotal role in publishing every floodplain produced by Auckland Council since its inception. He provided crucial expert flood evidence during the unitary plan process in 2016 and is credited with establishing the methods and processes used to assess flood risk. Following the recent floods, Nick now oversees the Council’s initiatives for flood warning systems, flood intelligence, and flood risk communication under the new Making Space for Water directive.
Emma Brand
The Veolia NZ business has been delivering water services in New Zealand for 26 years and has 300 employees that Emma oversees as Country Director. Emma has long-standing experience within energy, oil and gas, hydrogen and the water sector with firms such as BP and Origin Energy, and a career focus on infrastructure development and project delivery.
Emma draws on her global industry experience working in the USA, Canada and Australia.
Becky Macdonald
Becky’s day job is as Jacobs Regional Solutions Director for Water Infrastructure and is based in Christchurch. She has a background in chemical and process engineering, specialising in water and wastewater treatment and she is a chartered engineer as well as a fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers. When she is not at work, she is a serial volunteer including: an Adjunct Processor at Canterbury University where she supervises engineering design projects, a member of the Water New Zealand Conference Technical Committee for many years, currently deputy chair of the Water New Zealand Technical Committee, and is an international accreditor of chemical engineering degrees.
Over the years Becky has been involved in emergency response in a professional engineering capacity. Her emergency response journey started in 2011, during the Christchurch earthquakes. She led many recovery projects at the Christchurch Wastewater Treatment Plant and learned a lot more about concrete cracks than she ever thought possible. More recently she lead the technical team working on the response to the 2021 Christchurch WWTP fire, bringing the plant back on line and then implementing a medium term solution to maintain secondary treatment. Last year she supported the recovery of the Napier WWTP following the Cyclone Gabrielle flooding, again focused on the works required to restore operation at the WWTP.
Ian Garside
Ian Garside has over 35 years of international experience in the water industry.
Ian’s background in wastewater overflows stems back to the 1980s where he was involved in pioneering work on Urban Pollution Management, providing mitigation from intermittent discharges from wastewater networks in the UK. He brought this experience to bear in New Zealand leading significant project for Watercare known as Project Storm. This project laid the foundation for the Central Interceptor which is currently being constructed.
Ian is a director and shareholder of ProjectMax and the AssetLife Alliance group and is an honorary life member of Water New Zealand.
Jo Parker
Jo Parker is a chartered civil engineer with nearly 50 years of experience in the water industry recognised internationally as an expert in the field of water management. Her illustrious career has included roles such as Head of Network Asset Management and Operations Director for UK water companies, where she managed all aspects of water assets. In 1994 Jo was awarded the MBE for her significant contributions to the water industry.
Anna Hooper
Dr Anna Hooper is a soil scientist by training and obtained her PhD from the University of Canterbury. Over the last ten years Anna has been working for the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment where she has been involved in several investigations at the science-policy interface. Her work has supported the mission to maintain or improve the quality of the environment by providing robust advice to decision-makers.
In her talk, Anna will discuss the most recent investigation that she led, which was a review of freshwater models used to support the regulation and management of water in Aotearoa New Zealand. This in-depth investigation was driven by the need to examine whether the country’s freshwater modelling is fit-for-purpose. Models are important tools to support robust, evidence-based freshwater management, yet in New Zealand, freshwater modelling is fragmented, under-resourced and lacking in leadership. The investigation revealed that gaps, overlaps, inefficiencies and inconsistencies are hindering the use of models.
While this investigation focused on modelling to support freshwater management, it is worth emphasising that different types of waters (freshwater, drinking water, stormwater and wastewater) are all connected and so the management of aquifers, rivers, lakes (as freshwater) affects drinking water, and the management of stormwater and wastewater affects freshwater (aquifers, rivers, lakes).
Anna will outline the recommendations made to the Minister and central government agencies on how to address the identified shortcomings. If adopted, these recommendations would ensure that freshwater modelling is organised in a way that best supports the regulation and management of our waterways, enabling us to be more responsible caretakers of our precious water resource.
Geoff Williams
Geoff Williams is Principal Advisor Strategy at Wellington Water. Geoff has worked for over 25 years in the water sector. Areas of expertise and special interest include water security, adaptive planning and working collaboratively with science providers to bring the best scientific approaches to our strategic planning.
Heather Unwins-England
Heather is an environmental microbiologist specialising in drinking water quality and drinking water risk management. Heather has held a senior management role in the public sector in Australia, leading a multi-disciplinary team responsible for regulation of drinking water, recycled water, water infrastructure management and water demand management, with a focus on risk management and public health protection. Heather has a comprehensive understanding of the issues and challenges in New Zealand and Australia in ensuring safe and secure drinking water and provided advice and expertise to drinking water suppliers to develop and implement DWSPs and ensure regulatory compliance requirements are met.
Neil Leat
Neil Leat holds a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He has previously served as a Senior Scientist at Rand Water’s Analytical Services Department and as a Senior Researcher in the Water Ecosystems and Human Health Group at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa.
During his tenure at Rand Water, Neil introduced new microbiology methods, ensuring compliance with ISO 17025 standards, and collaborating with national organisations on water microbiology matters. He has represented Rand Water on the South African Bureau of Standards Technical Committee on Water Quality (SABS TC 147) and served as a member of the Specialist Technical Committee on Water Testing for the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS).
Currently, he serves as the Head of Department for Microbiology at Watercare Laboratory Services in Auckland. In this role, he leads a team of microbiologists, focusing on delivering quality test results for clients and ensuring that the laboratory’s operations contribute to public health.
Nigel French
Nigel is Distinguished Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Public Health at Tāwharau Ora | School of Veterinary Science, Massey University and Emeritus Director of the New Zealand Food Safety Science and Research Centre. He was elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2014 and made Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the King’s Coronation and Birthday Honours list in 2023 for services to epidemiology. Nigel is also an Honorary Professor at the University of Otago, a member of the Expert Advisory Group for the UK Fleming Fund and a member of the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF). Nigel is a graduate in veterinary science (University of Bristol UK BVSc) and was awarded postgraduate degrees in epidemiology from University of London UK (MSc) and the University of Bristol (PhD). His main research interests are: Molecular and genomic epidemiology, public health, ecosystem health, zoonoses, and food, water and environmental pathogens.
Bruce Russell
Professor Bruce Russell is a parasitologist and microbiologist at the University of Otago, New Zealand. His research encompasses a range of parasitic diseases, with primary expertise in malaria and dengue. He has made significant contributions to understanding and combating these diseases through the development of innovative diagnostic and surveillance tools and therapeutic strategies.
Bruce’s academic pursuits are complemented by his practical experience, having served in various roles outside academia. He has collaborated with the Australian and US military on infectious diseases and with industry partners contributed to the development of drugs such as Tafenoquine for malaria treatment and prevention, and NITD609, an antimalarial candidate.
In recent years, Bruce has focused on protozoal parasites of critical importance to New Zealand, including Cryptosporidium and Dientamoeba fragilis. His work on Cryptosporidium, a major waterborne pathogen, involves developing effective detection methods and treatment strategies to mitigate its one health impact.
Susie Wood
Dr Wood’s research is multidisciplinary and integrative, with the overarching goal of improving knowledge on freshwater ecosystems. It spans three broad areas: (i) toxic cyanobacteria dynamics in freshwater systems (both planktonic in lakes and benthic in rivers), (ii) the development and application of molecular techniques to monitor and understand aquatic systems, and (iii) integrating cutting edge techniques with more traditional paleolimnological approaches to guide future lake management and restoration. She is considered a world expert on toxic cyanobacteria and has been involved with developing both recreational and drinking water guidelines for cyanobacteria in Aotearoa New Zealand. She received the Kilham Lecture Award from the International Limnology Society in 2022 for her contribution to freshwater research internationally. and the New Zealand Freshwater Sciences Society medal in 2019 for her outstanding contributions to freshwater science in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Fraser Wyllie
Fraser Wyllie is McConnell Dowell’s Managing Director for New Zealand and Pacific and is a Board Member of Infrastructure New Zealand. He is a Chartered Professional Engineer and a member of the Institute of Directors NZ, with over 30 years of construction industry experience in project governance and delivery. Fraser has been involved in a broad range of water and wastewater construction projects including delivery, maintenance and governance in New Zealand and the Pacific. McConnell Dowell are currently delivering Watercare’s Warkworth to Snells Pump Station and Transfer Pipeline, Shotover WWTP and Wellingtons Te Whare Wai Para Nuku in JV, NZs first thermal hydrolysis plant.
Michelle Farrell
Michelle Farrell is a chartered civil engineer who brings a wide range of experience and knowledge from across the civil construction industry into her role as Technical Manager at Civil Contractors New Zealand (CCNZ). With a solid understanding in key areas such as infrastructure design and construction (including three waters and roading), environmental management (including river works) and contract procurement and construction law, including various roles as Engineer to the Contract and with a focus on risk management, Michelle enjoys strengthening connections between clients, government, contractors and suppliers. With experience working for various councils, contractors, clients and consultants around the country, Michelle appreciates the benefits of collaboration and working together towards a common goal of delivering quality, efficient and sustainable construction projects across NZ.
Richard McIntosh
Richard is a respected and personable leader of high-performance teams. He is well regarded in the industry for delivery of complex capital work programmes and projects and for nurturing productive and collaborative relationships with clients and stakeholders. His success is clearly linked to his mentoring of leadership talent.
Richard has worked in the civil construction industry in New Zealand and overseas for over 20 years. As Operations Manager for Brian Perry Civil, he offers effective governance, oversight, and support across all our major projects in the Northern Region, and to our specialist pipeline rehabilitation business, PipeWorks.
With a future-focused approach, Richard continues to add value to organisations’ forward programmes of work across different sectors. His astute capital project management ability complements his depth of technical insight and passion for health, safety and wellbeing, helping clients efficiently deliver world class infrastructure for their customers.
Warner Cowin
Ngāti Porou, FEngNZ, BEng (Hons), AssocDip, PGDipBus, CMEngNZ, CMInstD
Founder, CEO Height Project Management
From scaling Māori and local SMEs through to training and Iwi economic development, Warner is passionate about generating social outcomes within the construction and infrastructure sectors.
He has over 25 years of experience in construction project management, procurement and the practical application of social outcomes.
Warner has diverse local and international experience across the construction and water industries, including as the Downer New Zealand National Water Operations and Maintenance Manager. He’s also been involved in the 10-year Water Alliance for the Far North District Council, Auckland Council’s Healthy Waters and three waters infrastructure projects as part of the Christchurch City Council rebuild.
Warner is a recognised industry leader in supplier diversity, social procurement and improving supplier diversity for Māori and Pasifika businesses. He is the founder and CEO of Height, a Technical Tendering and Social Procurement Consultancy of 40 staff that works across New Zealand and Australia.
