Waters was presented with the highest award of The UK Scout Association, the Silver Wolf, at Surfmoot 1961, following the Seventh World Rover Moot.

[7] Also in 1933, Bill was gazetted as a member of the Committee of Management of the Kinglake National Park,[8] another organisation that he would have a long association with.

[3] He was a prominent bush walker in Victoria and held several offices in the Melbourne Walking Club,[1][2] beginning in 1925 as a general committee member, before spending five years as secretary during the period 1927 to 1933 – when he assumed the position of Chief Leader.

[citation needed] Due to his special knowledge of Mount Bogong, Bill was asked to join the rescue party that Howard Michell raised to try and save the other two members of his party, Mick Hull and Cleve Cole in August 1936 as they attempted the first crossing of the Bogong High Plains during winter.

Chief Commissioner Charles Hoadley gave Bill a simple brief: Get the Rovers out of their Dens and back into the outdoors, a goal that he would dedicate the remainder of his life to.

These achievements grew from Waters teaching the Rovers the basics of cross-country skiing on a grassy hill.

[12] Bill had already gained much experience in the new sport, having been a part of the first party to reach the summit of Victoria's highest peak, Mt Bogong during winter, back in 1928.

By November, £110 had already been raised and so Bill purchased the land on the slopes of Mount Donna Buang and began the planning for the construction.

[16] Over the coming years, the numbers attending the Winter Parties would increase, with participants from interstate also joining the Victorians in the early exploration of the area.

This is for the simple reason that it predates the resorts, and at the time, the safest way to access the Bogong High Plain during winter was from Gippsland instead of Mt Beauty, as it has been since the construction of the Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme in the 1950s.

Waters also encouraged the efforts of the Yallourn and Moe Rover Crews, who were some of the first to ski the Baw-Baw Plateau, originally at Mt Erica.

Their parents arranged for financing for the Rover Crew to build a hut near Mushroom Rocks and it was officially opened by Bill Waters in 1940 on the King's Birthday public holiday.

Bill negotiated with the owners of Neulyne's Mill for the use of some of their huts during the winter to accommodate the Rovers, although they still had to hike up to the snowfields from what is now the entry to the resort.

[19] As soon as the Alpine Village was announced, Waters was back at work and he negotiated for the Rover Scouts to build their own purpose-built Ski Lodge.

Waters Rover Ski Lodge was officially opened by the Chief Commissioner of Victoria in 1967, shortly before Bill's death.

The service was led by Rover Scout Leader Ivan Stevens, and included the unveiling of a simple memorial to the "pioneer of bushwalking and ski-ing in this area", as well as an inspiring eulogy from Jim Blake of the Melbourne Walking Club.

[21] When Chief Commissioner Charles Hoadley appointed Waters as Headquarters Commissioner for Rovers, he charged Waters to focus on building up the outdoor side of Rover Scouting, using his experiences with the Melbourne Walking Club and Ski Club of Victoria to develop the young men as leaders in the Victorian bush.

In 1930, the Victorian Rover Scouts' outdoor activities were largely limited to the competition for the Matthew Evans Shield, which was awarded for "best hiking".

The scheme was well appreciated by the Forests Commission of Victoria and the mill owners, while the huts' visitors' books were full of praise as well.

Some of the service that was completed by the Moot included clearing the Puffing Billy Railway line from Belgrave to Menzies Creek, clearing the grounds of the Adult Deaf and Dumb Home in Blackburn, building kennels and runs at the Lady Nell Seeing Eye Dog School and painting the Guide Hut at Clifford Park.

30 years later, Victorian Rovers hosted the 8th World Moot at Gilwell Park, Gembrook over the summer of 1990–91.

Bill was presented with the award by then Chief Scout of the Commonwealth, Charles Maclean[32] Waters remains a giant of Victorian Rovering to this day.