Development of a Climate Change Explanatory Note and Summary

The Office of Water Science on behalf of the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Unconventional Gas Development and Large Coal Mining Development (IESC) requires independent experts for the development of an Explanatory Note (EN) and Summary Guide on incorporating climate change into environmental impact assessments.
Specifically, the IESC requires independent experts to develop an EN and Summary Guide on Integrating climate change in water balance modelling for environmental impact assessment (provisional title). The EN aims to provide pragmatic, fit-for-purpose approaches for proponents to incorporate climate change into environmental impact assessments, to assess potential impacts to water resources from developments under varying scenarios of predicted climate change. The EN will focus on hydrological and water balance aspects rather than water quality parameters or ecological processes. However, some consideration will be given to the cumulative impacts on water quality and ecological processes from both hydrological changes due to climate change and impacts of the development. 
The focus of the EN will be to provide:
a. Conceptualisation and impact pathway diagram(s) of how climate change may influence the impacts of developments on water resources (defined as per the Water Act 2007).
b. Guidance on how to account for the potential impacts of climate change on water balance predictions in environmental impact assessments in a manner that accommodates the various methods and data products that are used by different states and territories. 
c. Practical approaches to adapt current best practice methods of impact assessment to include climate change.
d. Guidance on how to adjust (e.g. downscale) suitable climatic data to estimate changes to catchment processes under climate change; these estimates can inform:
• Long-term changes in runoff and yield when designing water management infrastructure.
• Changes in extreme rainfall and catchment conditions (e.g. soil moisture) when assessing flood modelling risks and designing associated mitigation works.
• Changes in groundwater systems (e.g. recharge) when assessing potential impacts to water resources.
e. Guidance on how best to account for key sources of climatic and associated modelling uncertainty relevant to the planning periods of interest.
f. Examples and discussion of changing impact pathways due to climate change relating to coal and unconventional gas developments.
g. Other climate change considerations that are recommended when designing fit-for-purpose approaches to impact assessment.