National Water Grid Authority (NWGA)
Runs a staged framework in which each business case gates the next stage — and a portfolio of 61 projects worth up to $10 billion of which only 23 have a publicly available business case.
Responsibilities
- Fund feasibility and research studies under the Science Program
- Fund preliminary and detailed business cases
- Fund up to 50 per cent of construction capital costs
- Maintain the National Water Grid Investment Framework
The framework is well sequenced on paper, and this database should say so before it says anything else. Funding is staged: feasibility or research study, then a preliminary business case, then a detailed business case, then construction — with up to 50 per cent Commonwealth contribution at each stage and up to 50 per cent of total capital costs for delivery. A preliminary business case is required to support a detailed business case proposal, and a detailed business case is required to support a construction proposal.
That is the gate this site would design.
What happens around it is the finding. The portfolio comprises 61 large water projects with a total capital cost estimate of up to $10 billion, of which only 23 have publicly available business cases. Research on the sector's estimates has found total project costs underestimated by at least 116 per cent and benefits inflated by 56 per cent.
And commitments have preceded the evidence:
- Dungowan Dam — the Australian Government is not proceeding with $595.0 million over 7 years from 2026-27, because the business case did not provide sufficient support for the construction of the project.
- Emu Swamp Dam and Pipeline — a $162.5 million Commonwealth commitment, cancelled.
A funding line existed in the forward estimates for a project whose business case subsequently did not support it. The gate was in the framework; the commitment got in front of it. See 61 projects, up to $10 billion, 23 published business cases.
The Australian National Audit Office examined the design and governance of the predecessor National Water Infrastructure Development Fund and found agencies could have better documented the basis on which key program design elements were determined, including program need and the size of the funding envelope.
Where this body appears in a process
Every point at which National Water Grid Authority can hold something up, and why.
| Process | Step | Why it waits | Clock | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A water infrastructure project reaches construction funding | Feasibility or research study assessment | assessment | — | 365 |
| A water infrastructure project reaches construction funding | Preliminary business case assessment | assessment | — | 365 |
| A water infrastructure project reaches construction funding | Detailed business case assessment | assessment | — | 540 |
| A water infrastructure project reaches construction funding | Commonwealth construction funding commitment decision | scheduling | — | 180 |