Climate change is reducing water resources in many parts of Australia. Increasingly, higher risk sources are either being developed or being considered for development as public drinking water sources. There is a rising demand from the community for additional recreation facilities and subsequent access to drinking water catchments, as they are predominantly close to urban areas. These competing factors place substantial pressure on public water utilities to ensure the provision of safe drinking water. As the health risk profile increases, there is a need for additional barriers which may include new or upgraded water treatment facilities.This report covers the methodological development in the WaterRA project Public Perception of Source Protection and Its Relationship to Recreation and Water Treatment. It aims to develop a nationally applicable methodology to assist in the formulation of defensible policy which provides for drinking water source protection while accounting for recreational needs in surface water catchments in Australia.