Mr Alan Gregory, Regional Coordinator, Urban Waterscapes, Water for a Healthy Country.

Mr Alan Gregory: Theme Leader, Urban Water, Water for a Healthy Country Flagship

Mr Alan Gregory, Theme Leader for the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship’s Urban Water research, is helping to improve the management of urban water resources.

• 13 May 2009 | Updated 14 October 2011

Australia’s major east coast cities – particularly Melbourne and Sydney - consume more than a third of Australia’s drinking water (almost 3 000 million litres a day).

As Theme Leader for the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship’s Urban Water research, Mr Alan Gregory leads a team that is examining these cities as total urban systems and investigating the full impact of urban water activities, from the ocean to the outer reaches of water supply catchments.

'With most major cities close to the limits of their water supplies, we face significant challenges as population continues to grow,' said Mr Gregory. 'The added prospect of climate change is further reducing water availability. In response to this, the urban water industry is in an exciting phase of change, pursuing more sustainable ways to provide water services.'

Mr Gregory was previously the manager of water conservation and recycling for Sydney Water, where his primary focus was on demand management, water recycling and integrated water service provision. 

Over five years, his small team achieved water demand reductions of 30 gigalitres a year.

Mr Gregory has 30 years’ management, technical and policy experience in:

• water and wastewater infrastructure planning and acquisition
• urban development 
• strategic planning.

He also has a Master of Management from the Macquarie University Graduate School of Management and is keen to bring an industry point of view to CSIRO’s water research.

'My previous work was at the forefront of implementing change to more sustainable provision of water services and I aim to bring an industry perspective into the Flagship to help with the challenges of establishing Australia’s cities as world leaders in the efficient use of water,' Mr Gregory said.

'Agencies in all the major capital cities are pursuing water strategies that include demand management, water recycling and other diversified supply initiatives, many of which are new to Australia. The successful implementation of these plans will require a range of supporting research.'

He added, 'I think CSIRO, through the Flagship, has a unique capacity to draw together researchers from different science disciplines and industry experience to tackle urban water issues with a fresh perspective.'

Learn more about Urban water: addressing Australia’s urban water challenges.