Anita Foerster and Lee Godden Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne Australian Water Law Planning for Climatic Variability?

Imperatives for Adaptation High natural variability Climate change: locked in >>> lower rainfall, higher evaporation, more frequent and more severe drought, bushfire, flood…in South Eastern Australia Death of stationarity > complex, dynamic, highly variable nature of climate change impacts (Milly et al 2008)

Adaptive water law and governance? Role of law in climate change adaptation? Type 1 / 2 >>> understanding vulnerability and building adaptive capacity Spectrum of adaptation: anticipatory…reactionary / public…private Facilitate strategic resource planning, Protect public environmental and social values, Support individuals to adapt and manage risk in a timely, appropriate manner. Models of environmental and natural resource management law Shift from preservation/restoration > resilience, adaptive capacity, transitionalism principled flexibility (Robin Kundis Craig 2010) Increased reliance on multi-scalar governance networks (JB Ruhl 2010)

Adapting to water scarcity Central reform: long term water management planning to establish sustainable diversion limit State > central planning Water Act 2007 (Cth) Planning processes and parameters Legal standard for sustainable diversion limit Adaptation considerations: principled flexibility, scope for active adaptive management, reliance on multi-scalar governance

Water Act 2007 (Cth) Legal standard for sustainable diversion limit: environmentally sustainable level of take = key environmental assets/ ecosystem functions/ productive base/ environmental outcomes – is it tied to stationarity or does it support resilience / adaptive capacity? Scope for active adaptive management ? opportunities to review and amend SDL Importance of multi-scalar adaptive governance translating standard to operational level: equity, enviro priorities day to day responsive management within the limit. Will we implement successfully?

Adapting to increased flood risk State water and landuse planning legislation parameters for large scale planning controls, applied in development consent process. Widespread reliance on 1:100 year flood event datum as standard of acceptable risk > review! Complement with more strategic vulnerability assessment and planning and mix of reg. responses community scale planning, incentives for water sensitive urban design, absorb rather than avoid flood…

Water law and governance for climate change adaptation Gradually breaking free of paradigm of stationarity towards principled flexibility? Managing for scarcity – implement existing blueprint and develop supportive multi-scalar adaptive governance regime Managing for increased flood risk – considerable reform required