Increasing demand due to population growth in conjunction with a climate-based decrease in supply has led to a decline in fresh water resources in Australia. This has magnified the importance of implementing alternative and innovative water projects. Risk assessments play a key role in whether these water projects are awarded funding, and by extension, whether water can be secured for the future. Exploring the nature of the risk perceptions of those assessing project risks within water authorities could provide insight into how funding is allocated and which innovative projects are approved. In this study, 77 water professionals from across the four water authorities in Melbourne, Australia were surveyed to determine whether existing water risk processes – following the technical risk theory approach – can be deemed objective, and whether other personal factors may influence risk assessors’ perceptions. When assessing the same set of projects, the findings indicated that risk scores varied significantly between assessors. This variance was so significant between assessors that the assessment processes cannot be seen as objective. To explain the deviance in scores, the researchers undertook further testing to understand whether psychology or cultural worldviews play a role in risk perceptions in the water industry. These findings then will be used to augment existing risk assessment processes to more accurately reflect the organisation’s, rather than the individual’s, risk appetite. Achieving this aim would allow organisations to be more strategic and consistent in the way they assess the risk of funding new and innovative projects and allow governments to better respond to the looming threat of water security.