Adapting Water Management to Climate Change in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia
Climate change is threatening water security in water-scarce regions across the world, challenging water management policy in terms of how best to adapt. Transformative new approaches have been proposed, but management policies remain largely the same in many instances, and there are claims that goo...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Water |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/18/2504 |
| _version_ | 1797516963573923840 |
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| author | Ian P. Prosser Francis H. S. Chiew Mark Stafford Smith |
| author_facet | Ian P. Prosser Francis H. S. Chiew Mark Stafford Smith |
| author_sort | Ian P. Prosser |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Climate change is threatening water security in water-scarce regions across the world, challenging water management policy in terms of how best to adapt. Transformative new approaches have been proposed, but management policies remain largely the same in many instances, and there are claims that good current management practice is well adapted. This paper takes the case of the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia, where management policies are highly sophisticated and have been through a recent transformation in order to critically review how well adapted the basin’s management is to climate change. This paper synthesizes published data, recent literature, and water plans in order to evaluate the outcomes of water management policy. It identifies several limitations and inequities that could emerge in the context of climate change and, through synthesis of the broader climate adaptation literature, proposes solutions that can be implemented when basin management is formally reviewed in 2026. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:08:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f5d6299187a04ecc97bb89c336367436 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:08:12Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-f5d6299187a04ecc97bb89c3363674362023-11-22T15:40:25ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412021-09-011318250410.3390/w13182504Adapting Water Management to Climate Change in the Murray–Darling Basin, AustraliaIan P. Prosser0Francis H. S. Chiew1Mark Stafford Smith2Centre for Applied Water Science, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT 2617, AustraliaCSIRO Land and Water, Black Mountain, ACT 2601, AustraliaCSIRO Land and Water, Black Mountain, ACT 2601, AustraliaClimate change is threatening water security in water-scarce regions across the world, challenging water management policy in terms of how best to adapt. Transformative new approaches have been proposed, but management policies remain largely the same in many instances, and there are claims that good current management practice is well adapted. This paper takes the case of the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia, where management policies are highly sophisticated and have been through a recent transformation in order to critically review how well adapted the basin’s management is to climate change. This paper synthesizes published data, recent literature, and water plans in order to evaluate the outcomes of water management policy. It identifies several limitations and inequities that could emerge in the context of climate change and, through synthesis of the broader climate adaptation literature, proposes solutions that can be implemented when basin management is formally reviewed in 2026.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/18/2504climate changewater policyclimate adaptationMurray–Darling Basin |
| spellingShingle | Ian P. Prosser Francis H. S. Chiew Mark Stafford Smith Adapting Water Management to Climate Change in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia Water climate change water policy climate adaptation Murray–Darling Basin |
| title | Adapting Water Management to Climate Change in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia |
| title_full | Adapting Water Management to Climate Change in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia |
| title_fullStr | Adapting Water Management to Climate Change in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Adapting Water Management to Climate Change in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia |
| title_short | Adapting Water Management to Climate Change in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia |
| title_sort | adapting water management to climate change in the murray darling basin australia |
| topic | climate change water policy climate adaptation Murray–Darling Basin |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/18/2504 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ianpprosser adaptingwatermanagementtoclimatechangeinthemurraydarlingbasinaustralia AT francishschiew adaptingwatermanagementtoclimatechangeinthemurraydarlingbasinaustralia AT markstaffordsmith adaptingwatermanagementtoclimatechangeinthemurraydarlingbasinaustralia |