Victoria’s climate is changing. Our future is predicted to be hotter and drier. This poses challenges to the water sector because our water resources largely depend on climate.

Planning for climate change is important so that Victoria's businesses, industry and communities have water now and into the future.

Guidelines support the water sector in assessing climate change impacts

The guidelines support the water sector and water dependent industries in assessing climate change impacts on water resource availability – to inform planning, policy and investment decisions.

They inform urban and regional water planning, including Urban Water Strategies and Sustainable Water Strategies.

The guidelines provide projected temperature, potential evapotranspiration, rainfall and runoff across Victoria. These factors are used to assess the impact of climate change on surface water and groundwater availability.

The guidelines also provide information on how climate variability can be included in water availability assessments.

Guidelines have been updated

The 2025 guidelines build on earlier editions. In addition to the guideline document, supplementary material to support assessment has also been developed.

The guidelines have been updated to reflect:

  • lessons learnt from previous application of the guidelines
  • new research findings, including those from the Victorian Water and Climate Initiative
  • the broader needs in climate change impact assessment beyond urban water planning, including water availability for integrated water management and environmental water assessments.

Benefits of the guidelines

The 2025 update ensures that the guidelines remain user-focused, incorporate the best available science and reflect the current context for water management in Victoria. Benefits of the guidelines include:

  • providing tailored guidance on how to apply the climate science
  • promoting a consistent approach to climate change impact assessment for water availability
  • enabling more efficient climate change impact assessments.

Guidelines for assessing the impact of climate change on water availability

The 2025 guidelines can be downloaded below.

Additional information on climate assessment methods is provided in the Supplementary Material:

Projection data for all Victorian river basins can be provided in spreadsheet format upon request. Contact the DEECA Hydrology, Climate and Energy team at HCS.Team@deeca.vic.gov.au.

Page last updated: 03/12/25