This month marks one year since we launched the Water Stewardship Program in partnership with WaterNSW and The Ian Potter Foundation. It’s been a year of learning, collaboration, and deep gratitude for the communities and individuals who have carried this work forward.
Pictured above: Spring 2025, Hartley Vale Field Day at Kerosene Creek.
As Program Manager, I’ve had the privilege of watching people across the Sydney Drinking Water Catchment come together with generosity, curiosity and a shared commitment to improving the health and resilience of our landscapes.
Last autumn, we focused on listening. We engaged broadly with landholders, community groups, councils and local organisations across the catchment, responding to a remarkable number of expressions of interest to host on-ground demonstration projects. Thanks to this community energy, seven diverse project sites were selected across Kangaroo Valley, Braidwood, Hartley Vale, Moss Vale, Bungendore and Goulburn.
Pictured right: Summer 2026, Community gathers for the Braidwood Bootcamp at Bombay Demonstration Site. Click to read more.
Throughout winter and spring, Mulloon Consulting worked closely with each landholder to plan, design and navigate approvals, while local Landcare groups helped us deliver introductory workshops in each region. These sessions were instrumental in building local momentum and giving people the chance to shape the direction of the program. We also published a new Water Stewardship resource – The Regenerative Power of Water Book which was developed in partnership with WaterNSW by the team’s amazing Dr Laura Fisher.
Over summer, we broke ground on our first two construction sites at Bombay Creek and Brushy Hill Creek, both located in the southern tablelands within the Shoalhaven catchment. Seeing these projects come to life—and hosting our first “bootcamp style” workshop at the completed Bombay Creek demonstration site in Braidwood—has been a major milestone. This autumn, we’re aiming to complete construction at our Kangaroo Valley and Moss Vale sites, with more opportunities to bring local landholders together to see the results firsthand.
Pictured right: Mulloon and WaterNSW celebrate the new Regenerative Power of Water Book put together by the amazing Dr Laura Fisher, standing at left.
A standout highlight of the year was our Professionals Intensive Course, hosted at the Mulloon Home Farm. This four-day program was designed to build awareness and confidence in Mulloon’s approach to community and catchment scale projects, and it brought together 25 local NRM professionals from councils, Landcare, Local Land Services, bush regeneration, earthworks and landform rehabilitation.
The group dynamics and energy across the four days were genuinely fun and energising, and it was incredibly valuable to have so many key program stakeholders in one place – collectively learning, sharing knowledge and deepening our collective understanding of water management. The time spent together touring project sites, learning the key elements of landscape rehydration planning, design and construction, and trialling new educational games developed by BOHO Interactive, which was a real highlight for everyone involved.
Pictured right: Summer 2026, Dan the Waterwatch Man at the Professionals Intensive course.
As we move into our second year, our focus will be on developing strong case studies for each project, continuing community events, progressing construction across all demonstration sites. In the second half of this year, the pilot phase of the program will wrap up, and we are looking forward to engaging with some new landholders and project sites. None of this would be possible without the incredible landholders, community members, specialists and local representatives who have walked alongside us.
Thank you for making this first year one of meaningful progress – and for your ongoing stewardship of the landscapes and waterways we all depend on.
This program is supported by funding from WaterNSW and The Ian Potter Foundation.
Pictured right: Winter 2025, Kangaroo Valley Field Day at Brogers Creek.
