Climate change, water supplies and health; integrated technical ans social sciences

Climate change has been referred to as one of the most significant challenges we face over the coming century. Its impacts will be broadly felt, and will require responses from the whole community, including water suppliers, council asset managers, public health officers, emergency response teams, politicians, climate science modellers, and farmers. We argue that successful adaptation planning requires integration of a number of factors including data, information and expertise from different community and professional sectors of society. Achieving this degree of integration may require new skill sets and resources, and has important implications for planning processes.

This paper looks at recent work to help address potential impacts of climate change on water supplies and health in which ESR water scientists and social scientists carried out joint interviews in Taranaki in 2009 with District Health Board staff, Regional Council staff, water suppliers, community members and iwi representatives.

Specifically, this paper outlines how the qualitative data collected jointly by biophysical and social scientists has enabled a deeper understanding of adaptation planning within two projects: i) Ministry of Health-funded research to provide guidance for planning for the health impacts of climate change on water supplies1 ; ii) FRSTfunded research to develop a data modelling system that can support adaptation planning for the effects of climate change on human health2 . Both these projects share a key aim: helping people and communities to plan for, manage and cope with the impacts of climate change. Whilst still in progress, the latter project has thus far included a literature review exploring the capacity, assumptions and barriers that exist for coordinated adaptive planning between the health and environment sectors, and detailed consideration of how the vulnerability of drinking-water quality to climate change and variability might be assessed.

Key findings from each project are presented, including:

• concepts from the national and international literature;

• a ‘fit for purpose’ planning tool for use by local drinking water supply operators;

• preliminary working models for the assessment of water supply vulnerability.

The work has shown that combined social and biophysical approaches can be useful in supporting the participative adaptation planning required for Public Health Risk Management Plans (PHRMP), Long Term Council Community Plans, Annual Plans, Asset Management Plans, Health Impact Assessments (HIA), and Assessments of Environmental Effects (AEE).