Putting people first to improve water-risk assessments

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Researchers from the University of Adelaide, University of Melbourne, Australian National University and One Basin CRC will pilot a new strategy for assessing the risk climate change poses to water resources.

The strategy is being developed for use by water resource management organizations, such and landscape boards and catchment management authorities, and will influence the ways growers and communities access and utilize water resources.

"We know from research that the Murray-Darling Basin is headed for a drier future, with rainfall projected to decrease, particularly in the south and in winter, which means more time in drought and decreased soil moisture," says project lead, Professor Holger Maier, a Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Adelaide.

"We have a lot of useful information on climate change but there is a disconnect between those data and the actions taken to mitigate climate risks by stakeholders in the Murray-Darling Basin, leading to an ad hoc approach to climate adaptation.

"This project will provide the first step towards transforming the way climate risk assessments are done and will enable stakeholders to understand what specific risks climate change presents and what actions need to be taken to adapt."

Tailored climate-adaptation strategies will help stakeholders make decisions that ensure the integrity of environmental systems.

"We hope to help people overcome the current state of decision-making paralysis that can get in the way of much-needed climate adaptation action," says Professor Maier.

"We want communities and industries to have the means to understand the implications of climate change relevant to them so they can make actionable decisions, resulting in productive, sustainable and resilient communities, environment and industry.

The project has received Australian Government grant funding, through the CRC program, of more than $3 million over three years, and also involves partners from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, North East Catchment Management Authority, Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, and the Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board.

In its first year, the project will develop a prototype model for assessing climate risks in the Murray-Darling Basin in a people-centric way and will also identify a number of case-study regions where a pilot will be run.

The following two years will see researchers run the pilot alongside stakeholders in the identified regions, who will apply the climate-risk assessment model, test it, and refine it.

At the end of the project, Professor Maier expects to have developed a new approach to climate risk assessment that empowers stakeholders; an understanding of common values, desired future outcomes and corresponding blueprints for adaptation action; and the identification of common learnings, such as key barriers and accelerators to wider adoption of the developed approach, and guidelines and tools for broader implementation.

To achieve its intended aims, the project is expected to take longer than its initial three-year funding period.

"This project has been designed as the first step of a nine-year program, covering the pre-development and take-off phases of this sustainable transition," Professor Maier says.

"Through the resources and relationships we have access to through One Basin CRC, we have been presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve a wide-reaching, transformational change.

"The measure of the success of this project will be—in the short term—the confidence that the region has to move forward with decision making under future uncertainty, and—in the longer term—the vibrancy and resilience of the region."

Provided by University of Adelaide