26 August: Talk on "Drought, climate change & environmental flows"

[Lera Miles, UNEP-WCMC]

"Drought, climate change & environmental flows"

Dr Jane Doolan
Executive Director, Sustainable Water Environment and Innovation
Division in the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE),
Victoria, Australia

Thursday 26 August, 5.30pm
Part II lecture theatre, Department of Zoology, Cambridge CB2 3EJ

Southern Australia has experienced a long period of drought (since
1996) and elevated temperatures, with consequent negative effects on
ecological condition in freshwater systems, agricultural production
and water availability for human consumption. The severity of the dry
is without recorded precedent, and has forced a stark evaluation of
water allocations in Victoria. DSE has adopted a sophisticated
framework within which to manage water entitlements and delivery,
based on specific targets for ecological requirements, ecological
assets and a water trading market. The depth of the 2006 rainfall
deficit has forced the state to bring forward strategies to deal with
climate change that have been regarded as 2050, worst-case scenarios,
including adaptive responses to environmental target setting and
strategies for altering targets if the drought proves to be an
expression of climate change.