Preliminary Program
| DAY 1 - Monday 16 June | |||
| 09.20 09.25 |
Bus pick up for Pre-forum giraffe feeding (optional) | Bluegum Motel: 113 - 115 Cobra Street Quest: 22 Bultje Street |
|
| 10.40 | Bus pick up from Bluegum Motel | Bluegum Motel: 113 - 115 Cobra Street |
|
| 10.50 | Bus pick up from Quest | Quest: 22 Bultje Street | |
| 11.10 | 11.40 | Registration – Savannah Function Centre | Taronga Western Plains Zoo |
| 11.40 | 11.50 | Welcome to the Dam Operators Forum | Yvette Collins |
| 11.50 | 12.00 | Welcome to Country | Aunty Yvonne | |
| 12.00 | 12.10 | Icebreaker Activity | Yvette Collins |
| 12.10 | 12.15 | Message from our Platinum Sponsor | ![]() |
| 12.15 | 13.15 | Lunch | |
| EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT | CHAIR: GEOFF WATSON |
||
| 13.15 | 13.27 | DAMIEN BRYAN I Water NSW Dam Safety Emergency Management Specialist Practical Dam Safety Exercises - Operator Focus |
|
| 13.29 | 13.41 | INGER SHIMELL / CRAIG RONAN I Dams Safety NSW Senior Dams Safety Regulation Officer - Education Are you emergency prepared? |
|
| 13.43 | 13.55 | GRACE KENNEDY I Acmena Group Principal Consultant Human Factors in Dam Safety Emergencies |
|
| 13.55 | 14.05 | Group Q&A | |
| 14.05 | 14.45 | GROUP ACTIVITY: ROUNDTABLE BRAINSTORMING | |
| 14.45 | 14.55 | Scenario wrap-up | |
| 14.55 | 15.25 | Afternoon Tea | ![]() |
| 15.25 | 16.10 | Keynote Speaker DAVID WRIGHT Director Lake and Dam National Capital Authority |
|
| DAM SAFETY RISK MANAGEMENT | CHAIR: HETAL PARMAR |
||
| 16.12 | 16.26 | NICHOLAS OSTROVSKY I Water NSW Dam Engineering Risk Specialist Old dams, new tricks: A modern risk-based approach to dam safety for aging dams in the Town Water Risk Reduction Program. |
|
| 16.28 | 16.40 | LIAM TURNER I WaterNSW Asset Investigations Engineer Mechanical Radial Gate Hoist Assessments |
|
| 16.40 | 16.50 | Group Q&A | |
| 16.50 | 18.50 | Networking Drinks Savannah Function Centre |
![]() |
| 19.00 | Bus into town | ||
| DAY 2 - Tuesday 17 June | |||
| 07.50 | Bus pick up from Bluegum Motel | Bluegum Motel: 113 - 115 Cobra Street |
|
| 08.00 | Bus pick up from Quest | Quest: 22 Bultje Street | |
| 8.30 | 8.35 | Welcome to day two | GEOFF WATSON |
| 8.35 | 9.20 | KEYNOTE SPEAKER TOM BUGDEN Dam Safety and Assets Engineer, Dam Safety, Cooma |
|
| INNOVATIONS IN MONITORING AND SURVEILLANCE | CHAIR: YVETTE COLLINS |
||
| 9.22 | 9.34 | SAM WEATHERITT I Lombardi Engineering Australia Senior Civil/dams Engineer A modern approach to dam surveillance and monitoring using an integrated interpretation platform |
|
| 9.36 | 9.48 | HUON WILSON I IntelliSpatial Monitoring Lead Monitoring - An Integrated Approach |
|
| 9.50 | 10.02 | RAZIB RAHMAN I WaterNSW Asset Investigation - Project Manager Advancing Tunnel Inspections with ROV Technology: Lessons from the Upper Nepean Scheme |
|
| 10.02 | 10.12 | Group Q&A | |
| 10.12 | 10.42 | Morning Refreshments | ![]() |
| 10.42 | 11.27 | KEYNOTE SPEAKER MICHELLE YEAMAN General Manager, Regional Operations North Operations |
|
| OPERATIONS AND OPERATIONAL RISK MANAGEMENT | CHAIR: STORM STICKLAND |
||
| 11.29 | 11.41 | MARK QUODLING I WaterNSW Asset Investigations Manager Asset Planning - Project Strategic Assessment |
|
| 11.43 | 11.55 | TEGAN ABBOTT I Murray Darling Basin Authority River Operator For The River Murray Adaptive Management of the River Murray System: The Annual Operating Outlook (AOO) |
|
| 11.57 | 12.09 | MATHEW GARDNER I Goulburn-Murray Water Senior Storage Officer Bringing our aging infrastructure up to current OH&S standards |
|
| 12.09 | 12.19 | Group Q&A | |
| 12.20 | 13.20 | Lunch | |
| 13.20 | 14.00 | GROUP ACTIVITY: WICKED PROBLEMS | |
| 14.00 | 14.10 | Scenario wrap-up | |
| 14.10 | 14.40 | JUSTIN CAIRNS Renewable Energy – Program Director Burrendong Dam – Pumped Hydro |
|
| ENGINEERS AND OPERATORS – SHARING THE KNOWLEDGE | CHAIR: YVETTE COLLINS |
||
| 14.42 | 14.54 | MATTHEW FOWLER I Seqwater Southern Dam Operations Supervisor Competency management and succession planning |
|
| 14.56 | 15.08 | ADRIAN PEARSE I Goulburn-Murray Water Senior Storage Officer Operations and operational risk management - Operators and Engineers working towards a common-sense solution. |
|
| 15.10 | 15.22 | MARK EAGER | Sunwater Ben Anderson Barrage on the Burnett River in Bundaberg |
|
| 15.22 | 15.32 | Q&A | |
| 15.32 | 16.02 | Afternoon Refreshments | ![]() |
| 16.02 | 16.42 | PANEL DISCUSSION: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY OF BEING A DAM OPERATOR | |
| 16.42 | 16.52 | Preparing for Burrendong Dam Site Visit | Joanna Linehan |
| 16.52 | 17.00 | Forum Wrap-up | |
| 17.00 | Bus returns to town (Bluegum / Quest) | ||
| 18.30 | 22.30 | Forum Dinner Milestone Hotel |
![]() |
| DAY 3 - Wednesday 18 June | |||
| 07.30 | Bus pick up from Bluegum | Bluegum Motel: 113 - 115 Cobra Street |
|
| 07.30 | Bus pick up from Quest | Quest: 22 Bultje Street | |
| 08.45 | 09.00 | Arrive at Burrendong Dam | |
| 09.15 | 09.35 | Safety briefing and morning tea | Joanna Linehan |
| 09.15 | 12.30 | Tour | Joanna Linehan Rod Wilson |
| 12.30 | 13.30 | BBQ lunch | Wellington Rotary | |
| 13.30 | Buses depart Burrendong Dam for Dubbo Airport and town | ||
| 15.00 | Bus arrives at Dubbo Airport | ||
| 15.15 | Bus arrives in town (Bluegum / Quest) | ||
| DAY 1 - Monday 16 June | |
| Registration | |
| Lunch | |
| Welcome to Country and introduction | |
| Keynote Session 1 | |
| Afternoon Refreshments | |
| Session 2 | |
| Networking Drinks | |
| DAY 2 - Tuesday 17 June | |
| Keynote Session 1 | |
| Morning Refreshments | |
| Keynote Session 2 | |
| Lunch | |
| Session 3 | |
| Afternoon Refreshments | |
| Session 4 | |
| Forum Dinner | |
| DAY 3 - Wednesday 18 June | |
| Site tour - Burrendong Dam (including morning refreshments and lunch) | |
| Forum Close - (Return to Dubbo by 3pm) | |
| Day 1: Monday 2 September 2024 | |||
| 11.45 | 11.55 | Welcome to the Dams Forum | Storm Stickland
Forum Convenor / Seqwater |
| 11.55 | 12.05 | ANCOLD Executive Welcome | Michel Raymond
HARC |
| 12.10 | 12.50 | Keynote Speaker Presentation Title: Opportunities and shared obligations for dam owners |
Glenn Stockton
Sunwater |
| 12.55 | 13.55 | Lunch![]() |
|
| 14.00 | Dam upgrades and operations | Chair: Tom Ridgway | |
| 14.05 | 14.15 | Dam Upgrades - improvement or pain in the neck | Michael Wiltshire
Water Corporation |
| 14.18 | 14.33 | Dam Operator Preparation for a Dam Safety Emergency – A Case Study | Tim Lawrence
Seqwater |
| 14.36 | 14.51 | Streamlining Sunwater Emergency Action Plans | Michael Hughes
Sunwater |
| 14.54 | 15.20 | Open discussion | |
| 15.20 | 15.50 | Afternoon Refreshments![]() |
|
| 15.53 | 16.03 | Dam Good! Get ready to test your knowledge and dive into the fascinating world of dams in this thrilling quiz |
Facilitator: Organising Committee |
| 16.03 | Dam safety surveillance and instrumentation: What's in the horizon? | Chair: Surali Pinto | |
| 16.06 | 16.21 | The future of dam surveillance and the expected challenges. | Chris Rogers
Sunwater |
| 16.24 | 16.38 | Establishing an Effective Dam Instrument Maintenance Program: Ensuring Long-Term Reliability and Durability | Hao-yuan (Vincent) Chen
WaterNSW |
| 16.41 | 16.56 | Dams Maintenance - Keeping up with the times | Michael Wiltshire
Water Corporation |
| 16.59 | 17.30 | Open discussion | |
| 17.30 | 17.35 | Close for Day 1 | Storm Stickland
Forum Convenor / Seqwater |
| 17:45 | Networking Drinks sponsored by![]() |
||
| Day 2: Tuesday 3 September 2024 | |||
| 8.30 | 8.35 | Welcome to Day 2 Forum | Storm Stickland
Forum Convenor / Seqwater |
| 8.35 | 9.15 | Keynote Speaker Presentation Title: The critical role of dam operators - now and into the future |
Kevin Bartlett
Seqwater |
| 9.20 | 10.00 | Keynote Speaker Presentation Title: Lessons for Australian Dam Owners from the Oroville Dam Spillway Failure |
Barton Maher AECOM |
| 10.05 | 10.40 | Group activity Scenario Session Part A – Setting The Scene | Facilitator: Organising Committee |
| 10.40 | 11.10 | Morning Refreshments![]() |
|
| 11.10 | Next Gen: Who, how and when do we train new operators? | Chair: Miguel Wu | |
| 11.13 | 11.28 | Attracting New Dam Operators - Just-intime succession planning | Adrian Pearse
Goulburn-Murray Water |
| 11.31 | 11.44 | Dam Safety Surveillance Training for Operators: Methods of Delivery | David Wightman
Entura |
| 11.47 | 12.02 | National water industry collaboration with the operations sector | Dean Barnett
Water Industry Operations Association of Australia |
| 12.05 | 12.30 | Open discussion | |
| 12.30 | 13.30 | Lunch![]() |
|
| 13.35 | 13.45 | What do you do? Step into the shoes of everyday operators/professionals and discover the vital roles they play in our Dam world with What Do You Do? — a game that celebrates the importance of every job. |
Facilitator: Organising Committee |
| 13.50 | What DAM things keep you awake at night? | Chair: Michel Raymond | |
| 13.53 | 14.05 | Getting it Right – The Importance of Dam Operator Input into Dam O&M Manuals – A Case Study | Tim Lawrence, Graham Keegan
Seqwater |
| 14.08 | 14.23 | Better Data, Better Decisions, Better Sleep | Lucas Arnup
Coliban Water |
| 14.26 | 14.41 | Dam Operator input to managing Dam Safety Surveillance | Melissa Wong, James Lofting
Seqwater |
| 14.41 | 15.05 | Open Discussion | |
| 15.10 | 15.40 | Afternoon Refreshments![]() |
|
| 15.50 | 16.30 | Group Activity Scenario Session Part B – The Challenge | Facilitator: Organising Committee |
| 16.35 | 17:00 | Scenario Wrap Up | Storm Stickland
Forum Convenor / Seqwater |
| 17:00 | 17.10 | Day 2 Close
Review of Day 3 Tours |
Storm Stickland
Forum Convenor / Seqwater |
| 18.30 | 22.30 | Forum Dinner Savvy Squire Mooloolaba
|
|
| Day 3: Wednesday 4 September 2024 | |||
| 8.00 | 8.30 | Day 3 Site Tours |
|
| 8.15 | 8.30 | Load buses for the site tours | |
| 8.30 | 8.45 | Arrive Cooloolabin Dam | |
| 9.45 | 10.00 | Arrive Poona Dam | |
| 11.00 | 11.15 | Arrive Wappa Dam | |
| 12.15 | 13.15 | Take away Lunch served | |
| 13.15 | 13.45 | Bus departs to Sunshine Coast Airport | |
| 14.00 | 14.30 | Bus departs for Mantra Mooloolaba | |





