Meet The Experts - Garry Straughton
Wednesday, 14 May, 2025
How do you find water in the driest places on Earth?
For a hydrogeologist, the desert holds more than just sand and heat—it’s a vast, complex puzzle of hidden water systems beneath the surface.
At Eco Logical Australia, our arid zone specialist Garry Straughton has spent his career chasing groundwater through some of the most remote and unforgiving landscapes in the country.
From drilling 500 metres below ground to uncover briny ancient aquifers, to navigating the challenges of fieldwork hundreds of kilometres from the nearest town, his work supports everything from critical infrastructure to fragile desert ecosystems.
Read the latest in our Meet The Expert series to learn how Garry explains his job as a “water detective,” the myths he often has to bust, and why he believes water stewardship should be as valued as any mineral resource.
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1. How do you explain your job to someone at a party?
I search for underground water, like a water detective. I try to understand how it’s stored, how it moves through the subsurface, its quality, and how it interacts with the wider environment.
2. What’s the biggest misconception about your role?
There are so many in hydrogeology, primarily due to being unable to see the thing you’re studying. The most common are the idea that groundwater resources are limitless, or that they exist as underground lakes travelling through networks of pipework like channels.
3. What’s the most fascinating project you’ve ever worked on, and why?
I specialise in arid zone hydrogeology. So, any project that involves finding or managing groundwater resources in the desert is fascinating.
I grew up in Northern England, which is worlds apart from the groundwater systems of the South Australian Arid Lands. I’m frequently working on projects that require drilling groundwater bores to 500+ m below the ground surface, only to discover that the water is seven times saltier than the sea.
Even in such extreme conditions, a supply like this can make or break a project or sustain life for groundwater-dependent ecosystems at the ground surface.
📷 Carrapateena drilling
4. What’s your top tip for delivering outstanding client satisfaction on a project?
Be humble. Be confident in the things you know but acknowledge the things you don’t know. Then go find out the answer!
5. What are some of the key challenges you tackle in your role?
The remote locations we work in. Often, we can be 100s of km from the nearest town or petrol station. This makes checking in, mapping results, and navigating complexities in the field difficult. It’s slightly easier these days with satellite technology, but I would often have a compass and printouts of maps on the bonnet of my car when I started as a graduate.
📷Working on a groundwater project
6. What’s one change you’d like to see regarding water in Australia over the next 10 years?
Recognising the value of water. The misconception of it as a limitless resource, or that it can be easily accessed when needed without establishing a baseline condition, often leads to poor water management practices or irresponsible use of the resource.
Water stewardship, for any project, should be as important as the mineral deposit to be mined or the infrastructure intended to be built. Honest and methodical water stewardship planning up front on projects ensures users demonstrate the value of water and can lead to better outcomes for those who rely on that water, including the environment, communities, and cultural aspects.
📷 Garry and Dan Batrack, Tetra Tech CEO and President.
7. Can you recommend a book, podcast, or resource to someone in your field?
When you’re travelling such long distances for fieldwork, it pays to have enough music downloaded to sustain the journey. I’d recommend downloading the back catalogue of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. You’d do well to make it through all their albums before heading back home.
📷 Logging geology with a friend
8. What’s a fun or surprising fact about you that your team or clients might not know?
I’m at pains to admit that I’m a Manchester United fan. I don’t let on about this to too many people, considering how dismal the team has been for the better part of a decade. Things will be different this year though… right… right?
9. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Be kind. Lead with compassion and be the change.
📷With colleagues May-Le Ng (Eco Logical Australia) and Patrick Rath (RPS) for a Tetra Tech event in the US.