Don Begbie, Board Member – SEQCMA

Contributing a valuable perspective from Cubberla-Witton Catchments Network to the Healthy Land & Water's SEQ Catchments Members Association.

Don Begbie, Board Chair – SEQCMADon Begbie has chaired the SEQCMA Board since 2024 and previously served as Treasurer from 2020.

 He represents the ICM and Landcare Division for the catchments of Lower Brisbane, Tingalpa Creek, Moreton Island, and Stradbroke Island.

Don is the current President of the Cubberla-Witton Catchments Network (CWCN), a volunteer community-based urban catchment group undertaking environmental remediation of local creek systems around Toowong, St Lucia, Indooroopilly, Chapel Hill and Kenmore. He represents CWCN on the Brisbane Catchments Network.

He holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (1972) and Master of Agricultural Studies (1989), from The University of Queensland. Don spent 55 years with CSIRO as Director of the Urban Water Security Research Alliance 2007 – 2013, conducting research into rainwater, stormwater and other alternative sources of water as a drought emergency supply for South-East Queensland. Following that, he spent 3.5 years 2013 – 2017 with the Australian Water Recycling Centre of Excellence leading research and development into wastewater recycling. Don spent nearly 40 years with the State Government in land conservation, Landcare and the establishment of catchment management and regional NRM bodies. From 2000 to 2007, he was Director of the Department’s land and water sciences, based at Indooroopilly, Brisbane.

He ceased paid work in 2017 and spent a couple of years editing and publishing a book on rainwater tanks published by the International Water Association in 2015, and a second book on Water Sensitive Urban Design published by Elsevier in 2018.