Changes in climate and water - impacts on small towns

Small townships are important as centres for important social structures, commerce administration and, critically, a sense of community cohesion and intrinsic value. With the decline in rainfall in many areas, the productivity of rural lands are likely to change or decline, thus affecting productivity, disposable incomes and rural economies.

Cool temperate/semi-arid/arid

Many areas of Victoria will move from cool temperate climate to a semi- arid and those currently in semi-arid areas will move to arid conditions. Under such a scenario, our water resources will become scarcer and need to be better managed and used far more wisely.

But it is not a situation without hope. We need to adopt an adaptive management approach that uses all available technologies and management approaches – starting NOW!!

These included the adoption of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), water conservation plumbing and total water cycle management. Townships can still be attractive places to live in if we are smart. Not a drop of water must be wasted.

There are many ways in which communities can become empowered, and they demand the careful adoption of sustainability approaches to water management - such as reuse of treated wastewater for improving the presentation of townships that maintains its attractiveness and sense of pride.

Walking in the sunshine at NUDF08 in Nathalia