1. Adaptation to what?
2. Who or what adapts?
3. How are pressures and impacts currently being managed?
4. How effective are these responses anticipated to be?
5. What additional options could be considered?

The development of management options represents the first step in a process of detailed adaptive management planning. Subsequent steps include engaging with stakeholders and communities while continuing to investigate and understand:

• the interactions between social-ecological systems and drivers of change and how key points of vulnerability to natural resources may be overcome; and
• the feasibility and effectiveness of adaptation options.

 

Planned adaptation areas

Modify the events

• Infrastructure construction to protect flood prone urban environments
• Develop and implement streamflow management plans (in catchments without them) to reduce impacts of farm dams and other forms of water interception on riparian, wetland and aquatic ecosystems
• Develop and implement groundwater management plans (in areas without them) to reduce impacts of groundwater use on groundwater-dependent ecosystems and drought refugia
• Perennial vegetation reinstatement in hill country to reduce flash run-off and flood, erosion and water quality impacts of extreme rainfall events (especially Yea River catchment)
• Address bushfire hazard in public land areas fringing the boundary of the Productive Plains, Upland Slopes, Commuting Hills and Southern Forests

 

Respond to the effects

• Strategic revegetation and native vegetation protection programs to:
• identify and build the size and connectivity of key native vegetation remnants to nearby public land forest areas; and
• strengthen water quality protection
• Strengthen native vegetation retention controls and planning to protect resilience features of high value remnant native vegetation patches and drought refugia
• Modify land use planning in flood zones of the Agricultural Floodplains focus areas to reflect projected changes in flood depth and extent with climate change
• Encourage revegetation and/or perennial grass establishment on hills to maintain groundcover and protect against erosion, salinity and flash flooding

 

Reduce the risk

• Reinstate floodplain function in the Agricultural Floodplains focus areas
• Retire highly flood-prone agricultural land from use in the Agricultural Floodplains focus areas
• Manage fire ignition risk e.g. electricity distribution lines, in areas with high risk from catastrophic bushfires
• Migrate residential and other flood sensitive land uses away from flood-exposed areas

 

Build adaptive capacity

• Research into the need and opportunity to introduce new species or provenances to maintain ecosystem function under climate change
• Peri-urban and lifestyle landholder natural resource management programs to encourage such landholders to engage in measures to protect soil health and remnant vegetation and to develop the skills and capacity for implementation; and to strengthen bushfire preparation and response capabilities

 

Semi-autonomous adaptation areas

Reduce the risk

• Migrate settlements from interfaces with highest risk bushfire environment

 

Build adaptive capacity

• Research into resilience of alpine and restricted range species whose habitats are at high risk from climate change
• Research into long-term management of key fire sensitive environments under climate change
• Research into water resource impacts of climate change and potential implications for irrigation, environmental watering and urban supplies
• Monitoring of natural resource condition to detect trends indicative of climate change impacts to provide potential triggers for changed management