Researchers have found that in agricultural areas with decreasing resource availability, the risks of adapting to climate change increase when the discussion about water allocation becomes politicized.

This was the conclusion of the study of water management in the Langhorne Creek wine region, where researchers assessed hydrosocial risk in 2021.

“Hydrosocial risks arise from social processes that influence and are influenced by how people use water,” says Associate Professor Douglas Bardsley from the School of Social Sciences at the University of Adelaide, who conducted the study together with his colleagues Associate Professor Georgina Drew and Dr Bill Skinner.

“These risks have become more evident over the past 20 years due to the increasing impacts of climate change and more extreme events such as the Millennium Drought, which led to the overuse and depletion of some water resources.”

Langhorne Creek has historically experienced problems such as flooding, overuse of groundwater, and increasing salinization of surrounding water resources.

The region demonstrated an innovative attitude in tackling these problems, achieved through excellent organisation, good links with government and working together as a community.

“During the Millennium Drought crisis, strong participatory processes were triggered that led to some great hydrosocial processes,” says Associate Professor Bardsley.

“This led to a number of innovations, such as new water infrastructure, agroecosystems and water recycling. People also organized themselves and worked to prioritize the sustainability of water resource systems.”

However, the collaborative processes developed during this period did not last long.

“After the crisis was over, the government politicised the processes and gave priority to technical solutions over the important participatory approach that had been developed previously,” says Associate Professor Bardsley.

“The result is that many landowners feel excluded from water science and decision-making.”

According to the study by Associate Professor Bardsley, published in Geographical researchIf hydrosocial processes are politicised, communities exposed to hydrosocial risks may miss important opportunities to adapt to climate change.

“During the Millennium Drought, we saw landowners and other stakeholders realise that there needs to be limits on the abstraction of groundwater and surface water,” says Associate Professor Bardsley.

“The planning was tolerated because it was well understood and gave irrigators confidence that they could make long-term decisions regarding the new allocations.”

To ensure that results of this kind can be achieved, a genuine dialogue between science, politics and stakeholders is needed.

“Currently, predictions of future climate change are inadequately incorporated into water planning,” says Associate Professor Bardsley.

“An iterative process of updating allocations is built into water planning, but long-term policy must increasingly take into account future constraints on the availability of water resources.

“It is also important that effective science for water management is developed with strong processes in place with landowners so that everyone understands and supports the decisions that result from this new knowledge.”