Trudy Green

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Partnerships are at the core of everything eWater does, and for Trudy Green, they’re more than a job – they’re a driving force.  

Over her seven years at eWater Group (and counting), Trudy has championed collaboration across the water sector, bringing people together to solve complex challenges and ensure the sustainable management of water. 

As eWater General Manager, she continues to shape how our organisation responds to the sector’s needs today, while preparing it for the challenges of tomorrow. 

“I aim to ensure that collectively we have strong working relationships with our partners and clients, that we understand their needs, so we can provide tools, services and a Community of Practice that meet these.” 

Early Career and Connection with eWater 

Trudy’s connection with eWater began even before joining the organisation. During her nine years at the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, she worked on one of the first test cases using the Source Murray Model to manage water delivery risks in the River Murray. That experience left her curious about the model’s potential and excited by the opportunity to support its wider use. 

Her career has also been shaped by the Millennium Drought ​(Murray Darling Basin Authority, December 2016)​, which began just as she entered the workforce. It was the opportunity to contribute to high-level conversations about managing extreme shortages in Australia’s major cities highlighted both the fragility of water security and the resilience of those working to protect it that left an impression on her future.   

“Since then, I’ve been motivated by the public service aspect of the water industry, providing a critical service to people. It’s also an industry that understands its environmental impact and tries to mitigate these impacts. However, it has been the depth of relationships that have kept me in the water sector. I’ve worked with so many dedicated people, doing great things for not much recognition and reward, they are a special bunch.”   

Roles and Responsibilities at eWater 

When she joined eWater in 2018, Trudy was seeking a new challenge but wanted to remain in the water sector. 

Over the years, Trudy has taken on many roles at eWater, yet the heart of her work has stayed constant: building and strengthening partnerships. Today, she guides our external relationships, ensuring the organisation aligns with the needs of governments, clients, and stakeholders, and delivers the tools and services to meet them. 

A significant part of this is supporting the user community through eWater’s Community of Practice activities, fostering shared learning and collaboration across the sector. 

“It’s the simple thing of being able to help someone. I love it when I can connect partners, so they can learn from each other and nothing beats being able to respond to a user with a ‘we’ve fixed that now’.” 

Challenges and Growth 

Trudy’s time at eWater has also brought challenges. The death of her colleague Robert Carr, and former CEO of eWater, was both personally and professionally significant. Stepping into his role as acting CEO was one of the hardest points of her career, but it deepened her understanding of the technical complexities of eWater’s tools and strengthened her commitment to supporting the colleagues behind them. 

“That experience reinforced my drive to ensure eWater is the best organisation it can be – a place where innovation and collaboration thrive.” 

Achievements and Impact 

A notable example of collaboration partnerships is eWater’s work with CSIRO and the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) to integrate new low-flow prediction research into Australia’s National Hydrological Modelling platform, eWater Source, as part of the Commonwealth Water and Environment Research Program. 

eWater supported the MDBA with research into low-flow predications into Source with help of our software and hydrology teams, as well as training and program management. The outcome resulted in the integration of a new plugin to enhance Source’s capabilities and enable the MDBA to respond more realistically to varying water loss conditions (or low flow).   

“Low flows are extremely hard to measure and predict but a critical component of the flow regime, especially in drought. It’s exciting to be able to make this new research available for use.” 

By supporting the project at key moments, eWater helped ensure cutting-edge science was translated into practical tools. The result? A new plugin available to water managers which is already helping address one of the most difficult challenges of flow management, particularly during drought. 

Vision and Philosophy 

Looking ahead, Trudy envisions eWater’s partnerships program deepening its understanding of partner challenges and being the first organisation stakeholders turn to when new issues arise. 

“Models are powerful tools to help understand and respond to uncertainty and change. Maintaining and improving our platforms, and responding to the needs of our users, is a small but important part of sustainably managing our precious water supplies.” 

“I want us to have a deep understanding of the challenges facing our partners and ensure our platforms can help them meet these challenges. If something unexpected pops up, which it can in the water sector, I’d love for our partners to immediately think of coming to us for help.” 

“eWater’s Mission Statement really defines our unique role in the water industry. We are about the development and sharing of best practices, knowledge, and capabilities for all Australian governments. Partnerships are how we do this; they aren’t about how we ‘get things’ but how we maximise value for all our partners and users.” 

For the wider water sector, where climate change, drought, and floods create constant uncertainty, Trudy believes partnerships and shared knowledge will be more important than ever. 

The biggest challenge for the sector?  

“Climate change has been broadly accepted by the scientific community for my entire life, but action has been far too slow. For many, water – whether extreme drought or flood – will be how they experience the impacts of climate change. How we respond to this, including how we maintain our social fabric and reduce environmental harm continues to be the biggest challenge we face.” 

“The water sector has always been a pioneer in innovation – from generating renewable energy to harnessing big data to make smarter decisions. I’m proud to be part of an industry that is constantly pushing boundaries and leading the way toward a more sustainable future.”