Over seventy people attended the Jundah meeting and about thirty participated at Boulia. The previous meetings in Innamincka, Birdsville, Muttaburra and Winton also attracted good attendance, as did the meetings for people in the centre of the catchment held in Jundah and Boulia prior to the meetings for establishing the groups. Contributions made at these earlier meetings were collated and used as the basis for decision making when the committees were formed.

The roles of the groups and guidelines for their operation were also determined at these meetings. All the nominations put forward at the meetings for the geographic positions were accepted and it was agreed that the groups and their membership would be reviewed in twelve months. When an individual appointed for a region also represented an interest group then the interest group position was deemed to be filled. Consequently, some members wear multiple hats.

There was a great willingness by people to not push their own barrow but to bring their skills and experience to the catchment committee to work for an ecologically, economically, and socially sustainable future for the Lake Eyre Basin.

Elsewhere in the Basin it was being recognised that it may not be appropriate to establish catchment management groups, particularly where there were existing planning processes or where the population was sparse. In those instances, regions discussed having direct membership on the Lake Eyre Basin Coordinating Group. It was agreed that such membership must be determined through a fair and accountable method. The individual/s from each region would be supported in communicating with all interest groups in their region. In that way an appropriate process for the involvement in the Coordinating Group by each region would be agreed and established.

Initial membership for Lake Frome and Western Rivers regions was achieved in August 2001 with the appointment of a representative from each to the Coordinating Group. The representative from the Western Rivers Region was interim only and was replaced by two representatives in November 2001.

There is additional membership to be finalised to achieve the broad representation the Group is aiming for. This will be done through a process of nominations from stakeholder representative groups within the Lake Frome, Western Rivers and Desert Rivers regions. From these nominees the Coordinating Group will appoint members who it feels can best represent community stakeholders.