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What is climate change and adaptation?

Climate change is the long-term shift in temperature and weather patterns on a global scale. From the mid-1800s, human activities including burning of fossil fuels, agriculture, deforestation and industrial processes have been the main driver behind accelerated climate change.  

Climate adaptation is about understanding how climate change may impact on our environment, services, assets and people, and taking responsible action to prepare and adapt in response to these impacts to reduce vulnerability and increase long-term resilience. 

Climate change is already impacting South East Water and the communities we serve. Extreme events such as heatwaves, bushfires, severe storms and flooding, along with long‑term trends like declining rainfall, are already influencing how we plan, build and deliver our services.  

Victoria’s climate is changing

The science is clear – our climate is changing. Led by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the scientific community has undertaken an enormous amount of work to help us better understand how the Earth’s climate could change into future. 

In Victoria, we have our own set of climate change projections produced by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA). These projections use a statistical process called ‘downscaling’ that helps us understand how the climate may change on a more localised scale. 

Victoria’s Climate Science Report 2024 confirms that Victoria’s climate has warmed since the 19th century, becoming drier and experiencing more frequent and intense climate hazards. As global greenhouse gas emissions increase, these changes are projected to increase. Below are some of the realised and potential impacts from climate change in Victoria: 

Source: Victoria’s Climate Science Report 2024  (DEECA)  
Another source of information is Victoria’s Future Climate Tool, which can provide downscaled projection data across our service area.  

Key climate challenges in our service area

To ensure the sustainability of essential water, sewerage and recycled water services, we need to thoroughly understand how climate change impacts our assets, our services and our staff.  

This involves assessing the risks we face now; but also looking at potential future climate scenarios - which are dependent on the global action taken on climate change and the subsequent global warming levels that arise.  

For South East Water, we face climate challenges from: 

  1. Increased temperature and heatwaves – rising average temperatures and more frequent, intense heatwaves.
  2. Reduced rainfall and drought – long‑term declines in rainfall are expected, contributing to drier conditions.
  3. Bushfire – conditions that support bushfires, such as extreme heat and strong winds, are projected to worsen.
  4. Extreme rainfall and flooding – intense rainfall events and large‑scale flooding are predicted to become more common. 
  5. Extreme storms – storm‑related impacts such as high winds and lightning may increase in severity. 
  6. Sea level rise and storm surge – with extensive coastal assets, our region is vulnerable to sea level rise and coastal inundation over the medium and long‑term. 

What are our obligations?

South East Water is obligated and committed to providing reliable and safe potable water, sewerage and recycled water services, and to continue to deliver on this commitment it is important that our assets and infrastructure are resilient to current and future climate impacts.  

There are several legislated obligations that apply to manage climate risks including (but not limited to) Climate Change Act 2017, Water Act 1989 and our Minster’s Statement of Obligations. These require us to actively manage climate risks, ensure long term water security and integrate climate adaptation into business planning.  

In addition to our external obligations, South East Water has a Climate Change Policy which commits us to managing and mitigating the impacts of climate change, including: 

  • Assessing impacts and managing risk 
  • Stakeholder and peer engagement and collaboration 
  • Ongoing and robust monitoring, measurement and reporting 
  • Transparent communication with stakeholders and customers; and 
  • Continuous improvement.  

What are we doing about it?

In 2022, South East Water developed our Climate Adaptation Action Plan 2022-2027. This plan was informed by a comprehensive climate risk assessment and comprises five main goals: 

1. Minimise the number of risks rated extreme in 2030 through active control measures. 


2. 100% of risks rated high or extreme in 2030 have controls endorsed by executive. 


3. All critical assets have a climate risk assessment as part of out standard risk management processes.


4. All controls implemented are effective. 


5. Climate risk assessments and controls are based on relevant and current data and science. 

We are on track to meeting these goals with various initiatives underway. You can find updates on our activities and progress on climate adaptation in our Annual Reports and Corporate Plan.  

We continue to collaborate closely with other water authorities and DEECA to share knowledge and experience, and to ensure that we are keep abreast the latest climate science, data and guidelines. We seek to manage climate risk in line with the four pillars of governance recommended by the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).