Download Request for Project Funding – Climate Change

Form No
RES FOR 13
FORM TITLE - Request for Project Funding – Climate Change
Working title:
Better data-driven decision making under future climate uncertainty.
Problem statement:
Water industry decision makers require decision-appropriate techniques to select and use available climate
data to make sound business, planning and operational decisions for an uncertain future, in line with the
WSAA climate change adaptation guidelines.
Background/ Description:
A National approach: Water utilities across Australia need to plan for an uncertain future while at all
times being able to justify to their customers and regulators the prudence and efficiency of their capital
and operating expenditure. This task can be made easier through development of a nationally consistent
approach that enables utilities to improve the evidence base and transparency of their decision making
with regards to future climate and, water resource availability and demand. Water utilities are thus the
target audience; however, stakeholders from other sectors will be engaged and will benefit from the
development of this framework i.e. environmental, health and economic regulators, planning authorities,
and government research organisations.
Identification of utility decisions which use climate data: Utilities continually use climate data to manage
their systems and plan for the future. The project will identify the utility decisions that use climate
information and hence need to consider future climate, whether it is altered variability or long term
change. This survey includes decisions related to, but not limited to; water demand, assessment of
alternative and recycled water schemes, system augmentation planning and yield analysis, environmental
impact assessments, extreme events, short-, mid-, and long-term trends, identified risks and mitigations,
asset capability and asset management, board reporting/KPIs and planning integration with external
organisations.
After an initial screening of the identified decisions to select the types and scale that are material for a
utility, there is a need to assess for each selected type/scale of decision: the data required and how readily
it is obtained, how to ensure the data is correct, who accesses and analyses the data and who ultimately
makes the decision, what methods and techniques are used to analyse the data, if there are trigger points,
relevant metrics or pre-set conditions in the decision making process, which decisions are sensitive to
different techniques, the identification of vulnerabilities and adaptation options, and how the decision
making process is associated with the risk management approach.
Defining the required information and how to use it for robust decision making: Water utilities need to
understand, communicate and integrate climate change and variability into their “business as usual”
water planning and management practices. The project will identify types and compile sources of data
appropriate to particular decisions and decision making processes. This will include consideration of the
multiple, complex sources of uncertainty that is involved in forecasting (climate, population, economy) and
how this can be usefully and transparently be incorporated within the decision making process. An
important element of this is considering how to integrate uncertain projections into risk management and
business decision frameworks. A framework will be developed that aids a water utility to adopt a
consistent and defensible approach to future projections. The framework will consider that utilities vary in
size and capacity.
Integrated Water Planning: Our communities require a more integrated approach that involves water
utilities to contribute to the building of infrastructure. Water utilities are involved in mid to long term
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Water Research Australia Limited
ABN 32 127 974 261
Level 3 250 Victoria Square Adelaide SA 5000
Postal: GPO Box 1751 SA 5001
Telephone +61 8 7424 2445
Facsimile +61 8 7003 2445
Website www.waterra.com.au
Form No
RES FOR 13
FORM TITLE - Request for Project Funding – Climate Change
planning decisions that include many other entities. This project will assess links and needs of the external
stakeholders and how water utilities can engage in the planning process particularly to support climate
change planning. As a part of this assessment, recommendations will be made on how to improve this
engagement, taking into consideration the review of decision making framework in earlier work.
Objectives:
The objectives of this project are to:
 Better understand which types of utility decisions require the use of which climate data, both now
and in the future
 Demonstrate how future climate projections can be included in decision making
 Develop analytical processes and a framework to assist robust, defensible and transparent
decision-making
 Engage water industry stakeholders towards a nationally consistent approach to future climate
adaptation by utilities
Alignment with strategy:
The intention of this project is to underpin the WSAA Climate Change Adaptation Guidelines (currently in
draft final version) with more detail to ensure industry practitioners use the most appropriate data and
techniques for the type and scale of their water industry decision-making.
Overall, the research should align with relevant state and federal legislative requirements, as well as take
into consideration the corporate strategies of the contributing utilities and their regulators.
Broader contextual alignment should be with state or regional growth plans as needed.
Primary deliverable:
A framework to assist Australian water utilities to consider climate and water futures in their planning and
management activities, based upon:
 An investigation of the data available and decision making processes that utilities can use and how
the information is translated into business and adaptation decisions
 A synthesis of the information available and needed for future climate adaptation planning
 A toolbox of techniques and approaches to analysing the climate change information available,
including how to deal with uncertainty and gaps in the information
Other deliverables:
Knowledge transfer plan that identifies activities to support the implementation and capability building of
the framework.
Communication plan:
This project requires extensive stakeholder engagement to achieve its purpose. Participants will need to
engage with organisations nationally, at different levels of government (federal to local), research
organisations as well as several water utilities. The communication plan will need to show how regular
engagement will occur and the budget allowed for face-to-face meetings.
The project team will be required to co-design the deliverables with the research organisations and keep
the climate data user and decision makers engaged throughout the project.
In particular, government and political stakeholders will be important contributors and influencers of this
project
2 | Page
Water Research Australia Limited
ABN 32 127 974 261
Level 3 250 Victoria Square Adelaide SA 5000
Postal: GPO Box 1751 SA 5001
Telephone +61 8 7424 2445
Facsimile +61 8 7003 2445
Website www.waterra.com.au
Form No
RES FOR 13
FORM TITLE - Request for Project Funding – Climate Change
Outputs will need to be conveyed through the WaterRA network as well as WSAA.
Project outputs to assist with ongoing communication of the project include:
 Factsheets – as determined by the project leader which succinctly convey the key findings of the
project
 Guidance factsheet on the decision support framework
 Final workshop or roadshow
 Training syllabus
Knowledge Transfer plan:
Implementation of this framework is recognised as being a significant and complex portion of this project
given its wide engagement nationally. Capacity building of water utility professionals in the area of future
climate assessment is a key deliverable of this project. As such, the Knowledge Transfer plan is a separate
deliverable to be developed after initial engagement with stakeholders and an assessment has been made
of the activities required to implement the framework. Development of the Knowledge Transfer plan will
be included as a milestone scheduled as determined by the project leader and included in the budget.
Interested Stakeholders:
From the workshop:
WaterRA members – AWQC/SA Water, Melbourne Water, Coliban Water, UNSW, Adel Uni,
Non-WaterRA members – BOM, CSIRO, WSAA
Potential others – WA Water Corp, Hunter, Seqwater, Sydney Water, Regulators (Env, Eco, Health) around
Australia, Water NSW, Yarra Valley, SE Water, City West Water
All WaterRA members to be approached for interest
Indicative Funding required:
Indicative range $150k - $200k cash, depending on the in-kind contributions
Duration:
The project duration is expected to be between 2 and 3 years.
Intellectual Property:
WaterRA will own the IP in accordance with the Members’ Agreements.
Investigative or Research approach
AWQC will be the Project Leader but has offered to collaborate with WaterRA research members (UNSW,
Adel Uni, Griffith) and government research organisations (CSIRO and BOM). In-kind contributions from
other water utilities are required to develop the decision support framework; which may include response
to survey, interviews, case studies and analysis of IT records (web searches).
In-kind contributions from other regulatory organisations are required to assist with development of
decision support framework.
What are
the
anticipated
benefits?
Utility Benefits
 Productivity
 Service Delivery
 Risk Management
Risk Management Integrated and consistent approach to the
assessment of climate and water future which leads to better risk
management
Productivity - Increase in uptake and use of climate information
and transparency in climate change decision making which will aid
in regulatory approvals
Productivity - Increased likelihood of investing in correct
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Water Research Australia Limited
ABN 32 127 974 261
Level 3 250 Victoria Square Adelaide SA 5000
Postal: GPO Box 1751 SA 5001
Telephone +61 8 7424 2445
Facsimile +61 8 7003 2445
Website www.waterra.com.au
Form No
RES FOR 13
FORM TITLE - Request for Project Funding – Climate Change
adaptation programs
Service Delivery - Customers and communities will have better
reliability of supply with greater price certainty and an
appreciation of how their water service providers are managing
the impacts of climate change
Risk Management – Reputational, though demonstrated
improvements in planning, communication and management of
weather-related events
Productivity - Better understanding of (and hence targeted
investment in) research needed to monitor climate and water
futures
Research Partner
Benefits
 Publication outputs
Uptake - Application of research methods within water utilities
Uptake - More targeted/better defined research questions to
support industry
Organisational Learning - Increase in skilled practitioners in
climate change assessment and planning
Capacity Building
Benefits
 How will this result in
practice change,
organisational learning
or improvements for
society
What will success look like (KPI’s)?
Practice Change - Improved utility processes to assess climate and
water futures and incorporate the associated uncertainty into
practical decision making
Practice Change - Improved integration with other external
stakeholders to deliver more efficient community projects
Improvement for Society - Business and community confidence if
water industry services are reliable into the future despite the
impacts of climate change
Climate change adaptation is business as usual within the water
utility
Regulator ready information to support business cases
Water, wastewater services and costing are reliable and prices are
certain
Best practice planning for climate change
Reliable water supply and water industry services
4 | Page
Water Research Australia Limited
ABN 32 127 974 261
Level 3 250 Victoria Square Adelaide SA 5000
Postal: GPO Box 1751 SA 5001
Telephone +61 8 7424 2445
Facsimile +61 8 7003 2445
Website www.waterra.com.au
Form No
RES FOR 13
FORM TITLE - Request for Project Funding – Climate Change
Indicative Funding
Name: .......................................................
Date: ……………………………………………………………….
FOR CASH FUNDING AMOUNT OF
$.................................................................
FOR INKIND FUNDING AMOUNT OF
$......................................................................
FOR FINANCIAL YEAR/S…………………………………………………………………………………………………
5 | Page
Water Research Australia Limited
ABN 32 127 974 261
Level 3 250 Victoria Square Adelaide SA 5000
Postal: GPO Box 1751 SA 5001
Telephone +61 8 7424 2445
Facsimile +61 8 7003 2445
Website www.waterra.com.au