TY - JOUR
T1 - Climate risk assessment in the MDB–a review
AU - Alexandra, Jason
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Engineers Australia.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Climate change introduces greater complexity to water resources planning, requiring techniques suited to increased future uncertainties. In Australia’s Murray Darling Basin, governments formally recognised climate risk in 2002 and legislated science-based climate risk assessment in 2007. Since then, research has helped clarify the significance of climate change impacts on catchments, riverine ecosystems and water resources. This paper offers a review of climate risk assessments undertaken over the past two decades and outlines research needs and policy options while noting there are no simple solutions given the systemic nature of climate risks. Water resource planning and climate risk assessment need to handle non-stationarity and post-natural Anthropocene conditions. These methods should integrate biophysical and socio-economic modelling, increase stakeholder participation in developing and testing policy options and codify standards and procedures for transparency.
AB - Climate change introduces greater complexity to water resources planning, requiring techniques suited to increased future uncertainties. In Australia’s Murray Darling Basin, governments formally recognised climate risk in 2002 and legislated science-based climate risk assessment in 2007. Since then, research has helped clarify the significance of climate change impacts on catchments, riverine ecosystems and water resources. This paper offers a review of climate risk assessments undertaken over the past two decades and outlines research needs and policy options while noting there are no simple solutions given the systemic nature of climate risks. Water resource planning and climate risk assessment need to handle non-stationarity and post-natural Anthropocene conditions. These methods should integrate biophysical and socio-economic modelling, increase stakeholder participation in developing and testing policy options and codify standards and procedures for transparency.
KW - climate adaptation policy
KW - Climate risk
KW - climate science
KW - Murray Darling Basin
KW - river basin planning
KW - systemic risk assessment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85144572669&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13241583.2022.2157107
DO - 10.1080/13241583.2022.2157107
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85144572669
SN - 1324-1583
VL - 27
SP - 18
EP - 30
JO - Australian Journal of Water Resources
JF - Australian Journal of Water Resources
IS - 1
ER -