Climate change in the Goulburn Broken Catchment
Climate change is a key issue impacting on the resilience of natural resources and therefore requires a response by key natural resource management organisations such as the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority.
The interactions between climate, natural resources, industries and communities are complex, interconnected and challenging to communicate and respond to.
Projections for the future climate of the Goulburn Broken Catchment will see average temperatures continue to increase in all seasons (very high confidence). Rainfall will continue to be very variable over time, but over the long term is expected to continue to decline during the cool season with medium to high confidence. Even though mean annual rainfall is projected to decline, extreme rainfall events are expected to become more intense on average through the century (high confidence) but remain very variable in space and time (Clarke, JM et al 2019. Goulburn Climate Projections 2019. CSIRO, Melbourne, Australia).
All potential interactions between climate and natural resources need to be considered in climate change adaptation planning. This requires complex modelling, strategies and adaptive management to deal with uncertainty. In recognition of this, climate change is a ‘driver of change’ in the Goulburn Broken Regional Catchment Strategy (rcs.vic.gov.au)
The Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority aims to be a leader in working with the community to assist natural resources to adapt to climate change.
