The Mount Isa Water Board (MIWB) is a Queensland Government owned Category 1 Water Authority located in Mount Isa, Queensland.
MIWB is a statutory authority defined as a Category 1 Water Authority by the Water Act 2000 (Qld) to operate on a commercialised basis. MIWB’s activities are fully funded from charges to customers, a fact sheet is available for information about these charges. Customers served by MIWB include:
- Mount Isa City Council (MICC)
- Mount Isa Mines (MIM)
- Incitec Pivot
Key business activities include:
- acting as a registered Water Service Provider under the Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008
- managing the infrastructure required to transport bulk water from storages at Lake Moondarra and Lake Julius to customers, and applying appropriate water treatment processes to comply with MIWB’s legislative and commercial requirements
- conducting ongoing investigations and planning for future infrastructure requirements relevant to MIWB operations
- constructing, operating and maintaining the bulk water transport and treatment infrastructure, necessary to MIWB operations and
- acting as trustee for the Water and Recreation R48 Reserve (R48 Reserve) on behalf of the Department of Natural Resources and Mines, as administrator of the Land Act 1994.
MIWB’s key responsibility is to provide assurance to the continuity of supply of water to customers and the quality of water delivered to the city.
Board Structure
The Board of the MIWB is comprised of:
- Four persons nominated by the chief executive of the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy (DNRME)
- One person nominated by the Mount Isa City Council
The members of the Mount Isa Water Board are:
Steve de Kruijff, Director and Chair of the Board since May 2016
Steve de Kruijff’s career spans almost four decades in the mining industry, predominantly in North West Queensland. Mr de Kruijff was previously the Chief Operating Officer for Glencore’s Australian Copper Assets until February 2014. Prior to this role, Mr de Kruijff was General Manager of Xstrata’s Mount Isa Copper Operations until December 2006 and Chief Operating Officer of Xstrata Copper’s North Queensland division to May 2013. Mr de Kruijff has been a director of several of Xstrata’s subsidiary companies and is a past President of the Queensland Resources Council. He was awarded the 2008 AusIMM Jim Torlach Health and Safety Award, and an OAM in the 2016 Australia Day Honours List for his contribution to the mining industry and communities. Mr de Kruijff is a member of MIWB’s Audit, Risk and Finance Committee.
Karen Read, Director and Chair of Audit, Risk and Finance Committee
Karen Read is a senior finance and commercial executive and has extensive experience within the mining and resources sector with a career spanning 30 years. Ms Read worked for Glencore Xstrata group for much of this time, including several years in Mount Isa from 1995. From
2014–2017, she was employed as CFO for a consulting engineering and project practice business. Ms Read has extensive Board experience including as Director Queensland Country Bank, Director Queensland Country Health Fund, Director of Wesley Medical Research Institute, and a group member of the Copper String 2032 Regional Reference Group. Ms Read is a Fellow of CPA Australia, a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a member of Australasian Mutual Institute. She is the Deputy Chair of NQ Branch Regional Council of CPA Australia.
Janice Wilson, Director and Chair of the Strategy, Asset and Technical Committee
Janice Wilson is a water engineer and project manager with over 20 years of experience in infrastructure delivery and the utilities sector, paired with a Master of Applied Science, Bachelor of Engineering, Professional Certificate in Asset Management and Certificate III in Water Treatment. She is the Managing Director and founder of an engineering consulting firm, and serves as independent board member with the Wide Bay Water and Waste Advisory Committee and the Local Buying Foundation Advisory Committee. Ms Wilson is a member of the Australian Water Association Queensland Committee and Vice Chair of the Regional, Rural and Remote Specialist Network.
Leonie Davey, Director and Chair of the R48 Reserve Committee
Leonie Davey has lived and worked in regional Queensland since 1994. She has extensive experience in community development and corporate governance, holding the positions of CEO for the Federal Government’s North Queensland regional development body from 2004–2007. From 2008 to 2016, she held the position of Director for the North Queensland GP Training Organisation. Since 2019 she has been a practicing solicitor in Queensland, and from January 2021 the Managing Partner in a private law firm.
Executive Structure
MIWB’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Bill Esteves, oversees MIWB’s Executive Leadership Team (ELT). The ELT is comprised of the following roles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- General Manager – Corporate & Governance
- General Manager – Operations
- General Manager – Capital Projects
Mr Esteves career and leadership profile is outlined below.
William (Bill) Esteves
GCLP, GC.Bus, B.Law, MA, MBA, MAICD
Mr Esteves has accumulated more than two decades of valuable experience overseeing areas such as prosecutions, litigation, government inquiries, transformation, change and performance management, policy development, and health and safety. Mr Esteves has held various executive roles and lead many milestone projects such as Queensland’s Greyhound Commission of Inquiry, Queensland’s Independent Review of Passenger Transport, and most recent to joining MIWB, the Northern Territory (NT) Work Health Authority, Electrical Safety Regulator, Chief Inspector of Radioactive Ores and Concentrates, and head of NT WorkSafe. Mr Esteves is a former member of Safe Work Australia, the NT Public Service Strategic Workforce Board, Injured Workers Family Committee, Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Advisory Council, and former Chair of the Return-to-Work Scheme Monitoring Committee.
