Climate resilience in the Pioneer Valley water plan

There have been changes in rainfall and climate since the current Pioneer Valley water plan was established in 2002.

We have reviewed the hydrology within the water plan area (the scientific study of how water moves, is distributed, and is managed) to determine if and how water availability has changed.

We have undertaken technical assessments to evaluate possible future impacts of climate variability to water availability in the region.

Learn how we manage climate variability risks.

Queensland's water plans in a variable and changing climate report (PDF, 19MB) identifies climate impacts across each of the water plan areas.

For example, pages 64 and 65 show the below snapshot of observed and projected climate trends for the Pioneer Valley water plan area. This snapshot includes 2 scenarios represented by a representative concentration pathway (RCP) of 8.5 (high greenhouse gas emissions) and 4.5 (lower greenhouse gas emissions) for the years 2030 and 2050. They indicate:

• average daily temperatures are projected to increase between 0.8 and 1.6 degrees Celsius
• average annual rainfall is projected to decrease up to 4% for the high emissions scenario by 2050
• average annual rainfall is projected to decrease up to 3% for the lower emissions scenario by 2050
• average annual potential evapotranspiration (PET) is projected to increase between 3 and 13%.