The climate of south-west Western Australia (SWWA) has experienced a long-term drying trend since the 1960s. Climate change projections indicate that rainfall will continue to decline across the region in the coming decades. Together with a warming climate, this will increase water stress in the region.
The Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub collaborated with the Western Australian Department of Water and Environmental Regulation to co-produce research into the reliability of water supply and environmental flow under climate change in the Wilyabrup Brook catchment of SWWA.
The climate change scenarios produced describe a future in which farm dam water supply reliability and environmental water flows are likely to be reduced in the Wilyabrup Brook catchment. Without adaptive management, these impacts will have consequences for farm productivity and ecosystem health into the future.
ESCC Hub research using these climate change scenarios validates the rigorous approach taken by water resource managers in the south-west region of Western Australia. It highlights the need for water managers throughout Australia to adequately consider and assess current and future climate risks when managing catchment water availability under a changing climate.
Read about the findings from this co-designed and co-implemented research in the brochure Climate change impacts on the reliability of farm dams and environmental flow in south-west Western Australia.
The research which underpins this brochure was conducted through ESCC Hub Project 5.4: Water futures under climate change
Feature image credit: iStock.com/timstarkey