Adapting to climate change: A risk assessment and decision making framework for managing groundwater dependent ecosystems with declining water levels. Development and case studies

Authors

• Jane Chambers
• Gaia Nugent
• Beate Sommer, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
• Peter Speldewinde
• Simon Neville
• Stephen Beatty
• Stacey Chilcott
• Stefan Eberhard
• Nicola Mitchell
• Frances D'Souza
• Olga Barron
• Don McFarlane
• Michael Braimbridge
• Belinda Robson
• Paul Close
• David Morgan
• Adrian Pinder
• Raymond H. Froend, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
• Pierre Horwitz, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
• Barbara Cook
• Peter Davies

Document Type

Book

Keywords

Australia, Western Australia, Swan Coastal Plain, Australian, Groundwater, Groundwater ecology, Environmental aspects, Environmental policy

Publisher

National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility

Faculty

Faculty of Health, Engineering and Science

School

School of Natural Sciences / Centre for Ecosystem Management

RAS ID

16904

Comments

Chambers, J., Nugent, G., Sommer, B. , Speldewinde, P., Neville, S., Beatty, S., Chilcott, S., Eberhard, S., Mitchell, N., D'Souza, F., Barron, O., McFarlane, D., Braimbridge, M., Robson, B., Close, P., Morgan, D., Pinder, A., Froend, R. H., Horwitz, P. , Cook, B., & Davies, P. (2013). Adapting to climate change: A risk assessment and decision making framework for managing groundwater dependent ecosystems with declining water levels. Development and Case Studies. Gold Coast, Australia: National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility. Original book available here

Abstract

The objective of this research was to develop and test a risk assessment and decision-making framework for managing groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) with declining water levels due to climate change, anthropogenic extraction, land use and land management. The framework was developed by a multidisciplinary team of ecologists, modellers and hydrogeologists in south-western Australia, a biodiversity hotspot that has already suffered three decades of below average rainfall and consequently declining groundwater levels due to increased groundwater abstraction and land use change. This has provided a ‘living experiment’ providing validation of the framework against observed changes (not just modelled projections). The combination of this research together with input from a suite of end-users, other scientists and experts from across Australia has provided a robust and adaptable framework.