Better data driven decision making under future climate uncertainty

Predicting the effects of climate change is a complicated business. A climate change model might relate temperatures to air flow and patterns of rainfall in a defined geographical area, important information for planning the construction of future dams and water storage reservoirs. The problem is that it is difficult to extract and transfer knowledge from the climate model into the planning and design process; there is a gap between climate science and those who need to apply the knowledge. This project bridges that gap through the establishment of a suite of strategies to further improve the ability of decision-makers to understand and integrate climate change into their ‘business-as-usual’ water planning and management practices.

The development of a toolkit of climate change adaptation supporting resources, called ‘Resiliwiki’, provides Water Research Australia members a valuable resource, allowing them to rapidly identify appropriate decision evaluation methods for a given decision. Although aimed at the water industry, this decision framework for transferring climate change science into adaptive practice is also valuable for government organisations and environmental, health and economic planners.