Climate Change Research, Mitigation and Adaptation

Progress

Climate change research

Key achievements of the climate change research component of this initiative include:

• Establishing the Victorian Water and Climate Initiative, which was a research initiative looking into the impact of climate change and climate variability on Victoria’s water resources. It included three related research projects, undertaken through funding agreements with the University of Melbourne, the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO:
• Researchers from the University of Melbourne undertook research focused on increasing understanding of where runoff rates across Victoria have reduced, and the reasons for the decline. The runoff response of many catchments across Victoria reduced significantly during the Millennium Drought, and many have still not recovered.
• Researchers from the Bureau of Meteorology worked to improve understanding of different weather types and their influence on rainfall. They also looked at ways to better characterise Victoria’s current climate, and the influence of tropical expansion on Victorian rainfall.
• CSIRO researchers developed improved methods for generating rainfall and streamflow projections for Victoria. This included looking at approaches to better understand and communicate the range of future projections, which is helping to inform long-term climate change adaptation planning for the water sector.
• A synthesis of the findings from the Victorian Water and Climate Initiative will be released in 2020, which documents the findings from the four year research program. The findings from the research program builds the foundational knowledge base that underpins many planning and policy decisions across the Victorian water sector.
• The research program informed the development of updated guidance for assessing the impact of climate change on water availability across Victoria. The guidelines present a consistent approach for applying updated scenarios for temperature, potential evapotranspiration, rainfall, runoff and groundwater recharge to be used across Victoria for assessing the impact of climate change on water availability. The guidelines provide the basis for climate change adaptation planning for water security for the 19 Water Corporations across Victoria.
• The research program and the guidelines built off the earlier Victorian Climate Initiative, which in 2019 won the Australian Water Association’s Research Innovation Award at the Victorian finals.
• The Victorian Water and Climate Initiative research program had 34 scientific journal publications published or submitted for publication, and contributed more than 40 presentations across paleoclimate, hydrology and climate research to the 22nd and 23rd International Congress on Modelling and Simulation (MODSIM 2017, 2019), 38th Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium (HWRS 2018), 2018 European Geophysical Union General Assembly Conference, Climate Extreme (CLEX) Annual Workshop 2018, 2019 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, amongst other conferences.
• In addition to informing planning undertaken by water corporations across Victoria, the findings of the research program were tailored to inform many state-wide policy and planning activities, including the Long-Term Water Resource Assessment (LTWRA), Sustainable Water Strategy (SWS) development and Latrobe Valley Regional Water Study (LVRWS).
• Communicating and applying the science across a broad range of water sector stakeholder groups was a focus of the initiative, including through newsletters, factsheets, a webinar series and science days.
• Contributing to implementation of the pilot Water Sector Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan through a range of different actions within the pilot plan.

Climate change mitigation (reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the Victorian water sector)

While this initiative was funded until the end of the 2019-20 financial year, a number of the actions outlined below remain ongoing as we continue to pursue new and improved ways to quickly and cost-effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Victorian water sector. Key achievements of the climate change mitigation component of this initiative include, but are not limited to:

• Worked with water corporations to develop principles to guide quick and cost-effective emissions reductions in the water sector, evaluate the costs and benefits of emissions reduction, and agree on a carbon accounting approach.
• Worked with water corporations to finalise the Victorian water sector's commitment to a long-term target of net-zero emissions by 2050.
• Committed Victorian water corporations to achieving ambitious shorter-term emissions reduction targets to be achieved by 2025 (see table below). These targets amount to a 42% reduction in Victorian water corporations’ emissions compared to 2011-2016 levels.

• Prepared 2025 emissions reduction pathway documents outlining the priorities, projects and initiatives water corporations would explore to meet 2025 emissions reduction targets.
• Conducted an independent review of these Victorian water corporations' emission reduction target to be achieved by 2025, reviewing their cost effectiveness and feasibility.
• Developed requirements for water corporations to report their total energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy use, and adaptation initiatives annually. This helps the sector remain on track to achieve its targets and ensures the sector remains transparent and accountable as it achieves its emissions related goals.
• Initiated a collaborative project with Victoria’s catchment management authorities to explore carbon sequestration and offsetting opportunities across the state. This work will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and result in other benefits for our communities and our local environment.
• Commenced the first phase of our innovative Net Zero Water Cycle Program. This is a joint research program with the Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Queensland University and BehaviourWorks Australia. The program seeks to understand the links between household water behaviour and energy consumption to find ways to reduce residential water-related energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and customer bills in Victoria.

Climate change adaptation (adapting to the impacts of climate change in the Victorian water sector)

While this initiative was funded until the end of the 2019-20 financial year, there are some projects that are ongoing. These projects will be delivered over 2020/21. Key achievements of the climate change adaptation component of this initiative include, but is not limited to:

• Finalised Victoria's first pilot Water Sector Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan, containing 20 unique adaptation actions (outlined below). The pilot actions help to build knowledge of climate change impacts on water, develop tools and policies to enable successful adaptation to climate change, and enhance the capability of water sector staff to apply climate change adaptation to business decisions.
• Completed 15 out of the 20 actions from the pilot Water Sector Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan (as at November 2020) with all remaining actions well underway. A table of pilot actions and their status is shown below (this table represents only a small snapshot of the outputs, outcomes and benefits resulting from each action). For more information on any of the actions listed please contact water.climatechange@delwp.vic.gov.au.

• Commenced foundational work to inform the development of the first Water Sector Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan as required under Victoria’s Climate Change Act 2017. This plan will build on learnings from the pilot and is expected to be released in 2021.