The role of the department

The Queensland Government understands that we have a central role to play in supporting climate adaptation initiatives and in developing new solutions and guidance to support climate resilience across the State. The department is working to address the immediate and long-term impacts of climate change on water through:

• building our understanding of water availability impacts on water supply scheme performance, ecological and cultural values, access to water entitlements and water use behaviour
• providing information to water users and the community on likely climate impacts and working with communities, industry, researchers, stakeholder groups and others to continue conversations about resilience and preparedness
• engaging people across Queensland and beyond to understand the water interests of our communities, our Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, our economies and our diverse environments
• collaborating with other government departments to help Queensland’s water users understand their water and its value
• continually updating water monitoring and measurement technologies including using remote-sensing techniques to track how water moves through and is available in a landscape
• interpreting and communicating the modelling that informs and underpins water planning decisions
• working across government and with researchers and industry experts to model how our water storage, treatment and distribution infrastructure perform under extreme weather event scenarios
• partnering with councils to understand their water supply security risks and the ability of water supply systems to meet future growth, with consideration given to potential climate change impacts
• collaborating with local stakeholders to complete assessments of water needs in some of the State’s most significant food bowl regions to identify opportunities to improve water security and support food security planning
• strategically and systematically reviewing and updating Queensland’s 23 water plans to ensure they keep pace with the latest climate science and continue to meet the water needs of all Queenslanders

While much progress has been made, climate science is continually evolving, and we are committed to continually building our understanding of climate impacts to develop better responses to risks for our water resources.

Through strong engagement with all water stakeholders we are strengthening the water sector now and into the future, for the benefit of all Queenslanders.