Perth Laboratory – Public Seminar Series 2010

The impact of climate change on water dependent ecosystems in south-west Western Australia

Dr Olga Barron
CSIRO Land and Water
Water for a Healthy Country Flagship

Thursday 29 April 2010 at 3.30pm, CSIRO Auditorium

PowerPoint Presentation
(3.5 MB)

Web-streamed audio presentation
[Requires Internet Explorer – cannot be viewed in FireFox]

Abstract:
CSIRO recently released the findings of the South-West Western Australia Sustainable Yields Project – the most comprehensive assessment of water yields and demands to 2030 ever undertaken for south-west Western Australia. The project reported on four major components: surface water, groundwater, environment, and yields and demands. This seminar will focus on the results of the environment component.

The effect of future climate and development scenarios on water resources in the region was estimated and the increased risk to water dependent ecosystems inferred. The region has a large numbers of nationally and internationally recognised water dependent ecosystems including Ramsar wetlands. Water dependent ecosystems have already been impacted by the post-1975 dry climate so a continuation of past climates was also examined.

The presentation examines the environmental impacts by 2030 as applied to 33 rivers and four types of groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs). For surface water dependent ecosystems three types of analysis were undertaken under future climate scenarios: 1) rivers where Ecological Water Requirements (EWRs) were available; 2) rivers where EWRs were not available; and 3) an analysis of ’no-flow’ periods. Groundwater model estimates of future groundwater levels were analysed within a risk framework developed by Froend and Loomes (2005) which accounts for both the absolute change and the rate of change in groundwater levels on GDEs. Under a dry future climate and full groundwater development under a median future climate, wetlands may experience high and severe risks in several areas which retain a native vegetation cover. The project highlighted the areas where current and future groundwater abstractions may need to be adjusted to minimise potential risks to GDEs.

Overall the results indicates that there is considerable risk which future climate and development scenarios may pose to surface water and groundwater dependent ecosystems but the impacts vary depending on both the changes to water regimes and the sensitivity of water dependent ecosystems to such changes.

About the speaker
Dr Olga Barron was team leader for the environment component of the South-West Western Australia Sustainable Yields (SWWASY) project. She has doctorates in Engineering Geology and Environmental Geology from Moscow State University and in Chemical and Environmental Sciences from the University of Limerick, Ireland. Prior to joining CSIRO, Dr Barron worked as a senior scientific researcher for the Research Institute of Survey for Construction in Moscow and as a senior research fellow at the University of Limerick, Ireland.

Dr Barron is currently a principal research scientist in Water Reuse and Environmental Process Engineering Program of CSIRO Land and Water. In addition to the SWWASY project, she currently leads a National Water Commission project which is investigating the impact of climate change on groundwater resources at a national scale.

This research was delivered through CSIRO’s Water for a Healthy Country Flagship.

This seminar is the third in a series of four to present the results of the South-West Western Australia Sustainable Yields Project. Final seminar in the series...

Thursday 6 May: Water Yields and Demands by Dr Don McFarlane

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