Managing Water Risk: Awareness for Leaders and Decision-Makers

Course Code: ANY-MWRALD-ALL-E

Course Level: Executive

Mapping: Water31K™ Risk Foundations, Risk Context, Risk Identification and Assessment, Risk Management and Risk Oversight

CPD Statement: Professionals can self‑claim LIKWD Academy courses as CPD because many CPD frameworks recognise structured learning that improves technical or risk‑related competence. Learners can use their certificate as a record of completion. This course is worth 3.5 CPD hours. 

ABOUT THIS COURSE

Introduction

This executive-level, globally relevant course provides leaders, directors and executives with a practical introduction to water risk and its governance implications. It is designed to help non-technical audiences understand how water systems create risk exposure, why this matters at a strategic level, and what effective oversight looks like.

In addition to building core awareness, the course supports participants in demonstrating fitness and propriety by strengthening their understanding of risk, governance obligations, and the questions they should be asking of their organisations. It reinforces key leadership expectations such as acting with due care and diligence, maintaining an enquiring mindset, and ensuring appropriate systems and controls are in place.

Participants will gain awareness of system context, controls and incident response, along with a clearer understanding of their role in overseeing water risk. By the end of the course, they will be better equipped to discharge their responsibilities and contribute to informed, accountable decision-making.
This course provides a foundational step toward stronger governance, improved risk oversight, and effective leadership in water-related operations.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand water risk at a leadership level, including why it is a critical strategic and governance issue.
• Recognise how water systems create risk exposure, from source through to end use.
• Identify key elements of water risk management, including controls, multiple barriers and incident response.
• Understand their roles and responsibilities as directors, executives or decision-makers in overseeing water risk.
• Apply an enquiring mindset, including knowing what questions to ask to test whether risks are being effectively managed.
• Recognise the limits of delegation, and the importance of maintaining accountability and oversight.
• Demonstrate awareness aligned with fitness and propriety expectations, including informed judgement, due care and diligence.
• Appreciate emerging and future risks, supporting more informed, forward-looking decision-making.

These objectives focus on enabling participants to exercise credible, defensible oversight of water risk, rather than technical management.

Course Presenters
This course was jointly developed and is presented by Dr Annette Davison and Ms Sarah Loder, the principal Risk Specialists and Exemplar Global-certified Water Quality Management System Lead Auditors, of The Risk Edge Group and founders of LIKWD.

Annette, 'The Water Risk Doctor' and winner of the 2021 AWA Water Professional of the Year award, is a microbiologist and a paralegal with over 30 years of experience in the water, environment and microbiology industries. Besides founding The Risk Edge Group, Annette is also a co-founder of water quality monitoring and information company, D2K Information Pty Ltd. She has sat on many boards and committees, including the board of the Australian Water Association (AWA) (2003-05 and 2015-17), the WaterRA Special Advisory Committee, and OneWater Advocates.

Annette was a lead author and contributor to various state, national and international guidelines for drinking water management systems (DWMSs), including the World Health Organisation’s first Water Safety Plan Manual (2009) and the NSW Guidelines for DWMSs (2013). She was instrumental in achieving inclusion of risk management in the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines in 2004.

Awarded the AWA’s Nancy Millis Award in 2005 for recognition of her services to risk management, Annette was also honoured in 2012 as an AWA ‘NSW Legend of Water’. Most recently, Annette has been involved in developing and implementing water quality management systems for water utilities, and is increasingly dedicating more time to educating and training industry participants on the best practices of water cycle governance risk management.

Sarah Loder is a risk professional with expertise in water quality and public health management. With more than 15 years of experience in process engineering, audit and risk-related management consulting for government and private sector customers, Sarah has a deep understanding of both technical and operational aspects of water quality management.

Sarah is a specialist in the design, development, implementation and evaluation of risk-based water quality management systems. With key skills across risk assessment planning, hazard and critical control point analysis (HACCP), process mapping, gap analysis and internal audit, reporting and complex data analysis.