Climate change and waterways

The Western Australian government recognises that climate change is happening now. While our climate is naturally variable, the warming trend and climate changes observed due to enhanced greenhouse effect are predicted to continue into the future and will affect Western Australia's communities, industries and ecosystems as well as present challenges to managing our state's resources. The Indian Ocean Climate Initiative (IOCI), a long-running research partnership between the WA government, the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology, has improved our understanding of climate changes in Western Australia.

Changes to our climate, including rainfall, temperature, evaporation and extreme weather events, influence the water cycle, which is the primary driver of the hydrology of waterways. The condition and stability of waterways depends not only on their hydrology, but also on a complex and dynamic network of interactions between bacteria, algae, plants and animals with sediments, rocks, surface water flow, groundwater and chemicals. Climate change will affect these components, and the processes and interactions that occur between them, in a range of different ways. Read more here