Climate Change State of Play 2025: in a rapidly warming world prediction of risk levels and consequences are raising red flags for the planet and humanity

 

Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, News:

IFoA research included in key climate-risk reports for global finance ministers

17 June 2025

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries has provided a summary of recent climate-related risk research which has been included in reports sent to global finance ministers. These reports were provided ahead of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG) 2025 Spring Meetings in late April.

IFoA Fellows and sustainability risk actuaries Sandy Trust and Georgi Bedenham sit on the Technical Advisory Group set up to advise the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action. This coalition is supported by the IMF and WBG and brings together fiscal and economic policymakers from 97 countries.

The series of IFoA research reports started in 2022 with ‘Climate Emergency – tipping the odds in our favour: A climate change policy briefing for COP27’. In 2023, we released ‘Emperor’s New Climate Scenarios – a warning for financial services’. This was followed in 2024 with ‘ClimateScorpion – the sting is in the tail’. Although coming too late for the IMF/WBG spring meeting briefings to finance ministers, the latest in the series was released in January 2025 entitled ‘Planetary Solvency – finding our balance with nature’.

Sandy Trust, IFoA Council member and IFoA Climate Risk series lead author, said:

“There is an urgent need for finance ministries to include realistic and current climate assessments risk into their economic analysis and modelling approaches. Global warming has accelerated, and the 12-month average temperature is now above the 1.5°C goal. This is driving increasingly severe impacts – fires, floods, heat, and droughts – which are coming sooner than expected, are worse than expected and outside model projections. Climate change is fast becoming a national security issue with food, water and heat stresses impacting populations.

“Finance ministries have to support important government decisions on prioritisation of climate change action. We urge ministers to adopt a set of principles to develop realistic economic assessments of climate impacts and opportunities. Our contribution to the reports provided ahead of the IMF and World Bank meetings are designed to draw attention to the limitations of first generation climate risk models which understate risks and provide some very specific recommendations to better assess the economic impact of climate change.”

Kartina Tahir Thomson, IFoA President, said: 

“Climate change is a risk management issue on a global scale. If we want to avoid severe disruption to the economy and our global society, we need to take action to reduce emissions, limit warming, mitigate the extent of future climate risks and adapt to those we cannot avoid.

“It is great to see this IFoA research being delivered direct to policymakers in over 90 countries. Given their skills and expertise in assessing long-term risk, actuaries are well placed to help draw attention to these climate risk challenges and to offer solutions.”

The report was included in the Coalition of Finance Ministers’ for Climate Action’s Helsinki Principle 4 initiative ‘Economic Analysis for Green and Resilient Transitions’. The IFoA’s contribution was part of its newly published Compendium of Practice.

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Excerpt from The urgent need for Ministries of Finance to factor systemic climate risk into their economic analysis and modeling approaches and principles for doing so: a view from the insurance and pensions industry, June 2025:

Key findings—realistic economic analysis to support Ministry of Finance decisions

1. Ministries of Finance have to support important government decisions on the prioritization of climate change, e.g., how much effort to expend on countering it, relative to the effort that must be spent on other issues. They use integrated assessment models (IAMs) to assess economic implications of climate change risks and opportunities, including policy decisions on incentives to accelerate the transition and how to build resilience into societies to withstand anticipated climate impacts.

2. However, IAMs have significant limitations, meaning they can understate both the climate risks and the economic opportunities arising from the energy transition. Basing policy decisions on these models may lead to inadequate adaptation, loss of resilience, and missed economic opportunities.

3. To address these limitations, MoFs should adopt a set of principles to develop realistic economic assessments of climate impacts and opportunities, including adopting a precautionary-principle approach, developing risk management capacity, and providing decision-makers with better information. 

4. MoFs should lead the development of National Transition Plans (NTPs)—strategic pan economy plans that direct private sector action around financing, incentivizing, coordinating, and enabling the transition. NTPs should include requirements for realistic risk assessment to support policy decisions to accelerate mitigation and build resilient infrastructure.

5. The backdrop to this analysis is that global warming has accelerated, and the 12-month average temperature is now above the 1.5°C goal. Record high temperatures are occurring continuously across the globe, with multiple locations now experiencing 40°C–50°C peaks. Polar regions are experiencing temperatures 30°C–40°C higher than normal. This trend will likely continue as emissions are ongoing and other factors, such as forest fires, ice loss, and loss of aerosol cooling, are driving warming.

6. This trend is having increasingly severe impacts—fires, floods, heat, and droughts. Climate change is becoming a national security issue, with food, water, and heat stresses impacting populations. If it goes unchecked, then mass mortality, involuntary mass migration events and/or severe GDP contraction are likely.

7. But warming above 1.5°C is extremely risky, with a high chance of triggering multiple climate tipping points, such as the collapse of ice sheets, permafrost melt, Amazon dieback, and halting major ocean current circulation. Impacts could be catastrophic, including significant loss of capacity to grow major staple crops, multi-meter sea-level rise, and further acceleration of climate change through the release of greenhouse gases.

In 2022 in its first term the Albanese Labor Government joined the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action (created in 2018-19), as of May 2025 this coalition comprises of 98 members supported by 21 Institutional Partners and 9 Knowledge Partners.

NOTE: The United States of America, Russia, Israel & North Korea are notable absences from the membership list to date.

Additionally in 2022 the Australian Treasury joined the International Platform on Sustainable Finance (launched in 2019).

CLIMATE CHANGE 2025: There is no longer any room left in Australia's national discourse for self-indulgent disbelief, denial or scepticism when it come to anthropogenic global warming

Australia, both as an ancient island continent and a society predicated on a federation of states in a representative democracy, entered 2025 with the following two hundred & fifty-eight year climatic background which every single person needs to seriously consider as they navigate this federal election year and what remains of this decade.

Because the decisions made now will affect if or how our own communities, friendship groups and families will cope — because the Australian and global overarching climate and seasonal weather patterns that we grew & prospered under down the generations are quickly disappearing never to return for millennia.

State of the Climate 2024: Report at a glance, excerpts:

Key points

Australia

> Australia's climate has warmed since national records began in 1910.

> The oceans surrounding Australia have also warmed. Chart of the temperature anomaly relative to the 1961 to 1990 average, in degrees Celsius, from 1910 to 2023, for temperatures over Australia and for sea surface temperatures in the Australian region.

> Australia’s climate has warmed by an average of 1.51 ±0.23 °C since national records began in 1910.

> Sea surface temperatures have increased by an average of 1.08 °C since 1900.

> The warming has led to an increase in the frequency of extreme heat events over land and in the oceans.

> In the south-west of Australia there has been a decrease of around 16% in April to October rainfall since 1970. Across the same region, May to July rainfall has seen the largest reduction, by around 20% since 1970.

> In the south-east of Australia, there has been a decrease of around 9% in April to October rainfall since 1994.

> Heavy short-term rainfall events are becoming more intense.

> There has been a decrease in streamflow at most gauges across Australia since 1970.

> There has been an increase in rainfall and streamflow across parts of northern Australia since the 1970s.

> There has been an increase in extreme fire weather, and a longer fire season, across large parts of the country since the 1950s.

> There has been a decrease in the number of tropical cyclones observed in the Australian region since at least 1982.

> Snow depth, snow cover and number of snow days have decreased in alpine regions since the late 1950s.

> Oceans around Australia are becoming more acidic, with changes happening faster in recent decades.

> Sea levels are rising around Australia, including more frequent extreme high levels that increase the risk of inundation and damage to coastal infrastructure and communities.

Anomalies (departures from the mean for the 1961–1990 standard averaging period) in annual mean sea surface temperature, and temperature over land, in the Australian region. Sea surface temperature values (data source: ERSST v5, psl.noaa.gov) are provided for a region around Australia (4–46°S and 94–174°E).

Global

> Concentrations of all major long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continue to increase. Global annual mean carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations reached 419.2 parts per million (ppm) in 2023 and the CO2 equivalent (CO2-e) of all greenhouse gases reached 524 ppm. These are the highest levels on Earth in at least 2 million years.

> Global fossil fuel CO2 emissions, the principal driver of the growth in CO2 concentrations, are continuing to increase. Overall anthropogenic CO2 emissions, including fossil fuel and land-use change emissions, have levelled off over the last decade after increasing for more than a century prior to the 2010s.

> In 2022 and 2023, the amounts of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), both greenhouse gases, in the atmosphere increased rapidly.

> Globally averaged air temperature at the Earth’s surface has warmed by about 1.2 °C since reliable records began in 1850. Each decade since 1980 has been warmer than the last, with 2011–2020 being around 0.2 °C warmer than 2001–2010. 2023 was the warmest year on record globally.

> The world’s oceans, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, have taken up more than 90% of the extra energy stored by the planet (as heat) arising from enhanced greenhouse gas concentrations.

> The ice sheets and ice shelves of Antarctica and Greenland are losing ice due to a warmer climate, and contributing to global sea level rise.

> There has been an abrupt decrease in Antarctic sea-ice extent since 2015, after a small increase over the period from 1979 to 2014.

> Around half of all CO2 emissions from human activities are absorbed by land and ocean sinks, which act to slow the rate of increase in atmospheric CO2.

> Global mean sea levels have risen by over 22 cm since 1900; half of this has occurred since 1970.

Future

In the coming decades, Australia will experience ongoing changes to its weather and climate. The changes are projected to include:

> Continued increase in air temperatures, with more heat extremes and fewer cold extremes.

> Continued decrease, on average, in cool season rainfall across many regions of southern and eastern Australia, which will likely lead to more time in drought.

> More intense short-duration heavy rainfall events even in regions where the average rainfall decreases or stays the same.

> Continued increase in the number of dangerous fire weather days and a longer fire season for much of southern and eastern Australia.

> Further sea level rise and continued warming and acidification of the oceans around Australia.

> Increased and longer-lasting marine heatwaves that will affect marine environments such as kelp forests and increase the likelihood of more frequent and severe bleaching events in coral reefs around Australia, including the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Reef.

> Fewer tropical cyclones, but with higher intensity on average, and greater impacts when they occur through higher rain rates and higher sea level.

> Reduced average snow depth in alpine regions, but with variations from year to year.

Changes in weather systems and climate influences

Australia’s weather systems are changing. Southern Australia receives much of its rainfall during the cooler months of the year from low-pressure systems and cold fronts to the south of the subtropical high-pressure ridge. During recent decades, these systems have become less common over southern Australia, and are less likely to produce rainfall when they do occur, contributing to declines in cool season rainfall. Mean sea level atmospheric pressure is increasing over Australia, and there has been an increase in the number of high-pressure systems over southern Australia, which bring dry, clear weather and little rainfall. This increase in atmospheric pressure across southern latitudes is a response to climate change.

There is large variability in the frequency of individual weather systems between individual months and years. Many of these trends are consistent with simulations from climate models, which demonstrate that increased greenhouse gas levels lead to fewer low-pressure systems in southern Australia and a stronger subtropical ridge, but an increase in the intensity of heavy rainfall, including from thunderstorms.

Australia’s climate is also influenced from year to year by various broadscale climate influences, such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). SAM shows a sustained trend towards more positive conditions from 1950 to the present day, particularly in summer.

The level of ENSO activity over the past 50 years is higher, with more significant El Niño and La Niña events than in the years between 1920 and 1970. However, there is no clear indication that recent activity levels are outside the long-term range of variability, with evidence of high levels of ENSO activity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There is low confidence in the long-term trends in the IOD, particularly prior to the 1960s, although paleoclimate data indicate that the recent frequency of strong positive IOD events is high in the context of multi-century variability.

The full report can be read & downloaded as a pdf at

http://www.bom.gov.au/state-of-the-climate/

HOUSING 2024 STATE OF PLAY: All renters deserve to live in a safe, healthy and energy efficient home. But do they?

 

In November 2024 the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) in partnership with Anika Legal and Consumer Action Law Centre (CALC) released a 23-page report entitled "Too Hot, Too Cold, Too Costly: Victorian Renters Pay the Price for Energy-Inefficient Homes".

Although this report is principally based on small group research conducted in one Australia state, the housing circumstances it describes are common to many towns and villages across the country, both in metropolitan and regional areas.

It should be noted that although the report appears to address private rental situations, it is not unknown for renters in government subsidised social housing to experience health & safety issues relating to a lack of energy efficiency built into dwellings they rent and/or experience delays in receiving needed repairs to the rental property.

The following excepts are drawn from the first 15 pages of the report.

How can we make it easier for people who rent to keep their home warm in winter and cool in summer? How can we make sure that the cost of energy isn’t excessive for people who rent?

All renters deserve to live in a safe, healthy and energy efficient home. Recent quantitative research has highlighted how rental homes with poor energy efficiency cause harm.

Up to 40% of households renting in Australia experience energy hardship, threatening their financial stability, health and housing security.

A national survey by Better Renting found that three in four renters in Australia are cutting back on heating and cooling to reduce energy costs. Only 22% of renters in Victoria have adequate ceiling insulation in their home, and 38% described their home as being too cold "almost all the time" in winter.

This report looks closely at the experiences of a group of renters in Victoria. Anika Legal, in partnership with Consumer Action Law Centre (CALC), provided financial counselling and legal advice to renters. This research investigated the experiences of these clients in terms of energy inefficiency in their rental properties, as well as the impacts on health and financial wellbeing resulting from inefficient energy use. The research also examined renters’ understanding of their rights, knowledge of complaints pathways, and experiences of dispute resolution.

Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) provided an independent analysis of findings, jointly reported here, in collaboration with Anika Legal. 

Overall, the results tell a targeted story of the challenges people face enforcing their rights as renters. There is a clear link between energy efficient homes and decreasing cost of energy use. However, the incentives for a landlord to make a home energy efficient do not go far enough to adequately protect renters. As one of our renters posited, a car needs a roadworthy. Why doesn’t a house?.....

Our renters reported living in energy inefficient and faulty homes

Most of our renters told us that the energy efficiency of their homes was ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.

They cited critical structural faults hindering the overall energy efficiency, examples included holes in the roof, gaps in floorboards, single pane windows, and draughty doors.

Additionally, several renters found major faults within their air conditioning units, electric water heaters, gas pipes and/or plumbing system. Some renters reported damage to key facilities in their home including a broken toilet valve, shower screen and fence. One renter said that their home had numerous faults and even lacked necessities including a front door lock, security gate/screen, kitchen exhaust fan and smoke alarm....

Our renters believed that the poor energy efficiency of their homes, combined with unrepaired faults, directly contributed to the increase in their energy and water bills. Our renters were concerned about their ability to clear existing debts and cover any future increase in energy and water prices.

Our renters and their households experienced significant negative impacts due to poor energy efficiency and faults in their homes

Our renters reported that poor energy efficiency resulted in a range of negative impacts on their household. Of these impacts, financial costs and health and safety concerns were the most significant.

Our renters often felt that they had to choose between turning on the heating during colder weather or enduring the cold to save money. When our renters did turn on their heating, they often felt stressed about how they would cover the additional cost to their energy bills. This resulted in these renters experiencing a lower sense of wellbeing and feeling disempowered and insecure in their current living situation. When our renters did not turn on their heating, they reported feeling concerned about the physical and mental health impacts associated with being cold all the time....

In addition, our renters were concerned about the health and safety risks posed by faults including leaky water and sewerage pipes. For instance, several of our renters were worried about the presence of mould in their homes and others identified the safety risk of puddles around water leakages. One renter even recounted an experience where their young son was hospitalised after slipping in a puddle of water that had leaked from a bathroom tap. These risks caused renters to feel anxious over the health and safety of their household.

Further, another renter reported experiencing negative impacts including stress, anxiety, relationship tension and less time to enjoy leisure activities. These impacts occurred after the renter had endured major gas leaks for several months....

Our renters are picking up the slack when landlords don’t act

Our renters often prefer to fix the problem themselves

When encountering a problem with their home, our renters tend to contact their friends, family, community workers, or often find a way to fix the problem themselves. Our renters take it upon themselves to purchase repair materials, appliances and other household products to regulate temperatures inside their homes, incurring out of pocket expenses for these improvements.

For example, several of our renters opted to purchase cheap standing heaters, fans, new blinds, and/or electric blankets. In other cases, one renter chose to seal gaps to prevent cold draughts, while another decided to patch holes in the roof....

Our renters are concerned about rent increases

Many of our renters are concerned that even basic improvements made to a property might lead to an increase in rent. One renter shared an experience where a neighbour’s rent was increased despite the landlord having already received a reimbursement for the property to be improved in line with minimum standards....

Our renters are aware of power imbalances, and this can influence their actions

Our renters recognised the power imbalance between themselves and their landlords, understanding that landlords control both rent prices and the security of their tenancy. This precarious dynamic often left renters feeling powerless and influenced the extent to which renters were willing to engage with their landlords. One renter expressed that they did not want to draw attention to themselves or remind their landlord of their presence. This sentiment was echoed by another renter who preferred to manage any repairs themselves to avoid potential retribution from their landlord.....

The full report can be read and downloaded at

https://anika-clerk.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/Too_Hot_Too_Cold_Too_Costly_-_December_2024.pdf

Thousands of people answered the call of Rising Tide and successfully protested at Newcastle coal port in New South Wales over the course of four days

 

After the Supreme Court set aside a Minns Government decision to cut off access to Newcastle Harbour in an effort to prevent a four-day climate protest, NSW Police were left trying to herd cats on port waters for most of Sunday, 24 November 2024. 

The result was that thousands of people of all ages answered Rising Tide's call for a peaceful protest at what is said to be the world's largest coal port and shipping was disrupted as planned.

Here's how the Newcastle Protestival went down from the perspective of police, protestors and media.

The Canberra Times, 24 November 2024

🚨 Breaking 🚨 Protestors declare victory blocking Newcastle Coal Port. Arrests made. pic.twitter.com/mtFWjg1pL9

— RisingTideAustralia (@RisingTideAus) November 24, 2024

NSW Police News

Over 100 people arrested in Port of Newcastle

Sunday, 24 November 2024 12:47:08 PM

Police have arrested over 100 people as a police operation continues in the Port of Newcastle.

Just after 10am today (Sunday 24 November 2024), a large group of people entered a shipping channel and interfered with the movement of vessels.

138 people have now been arrested after refusing to comply with a direction to move away from the channel.

The police operation is ongoing.

For their own safety and that of the other users of the port, police request that people refrain from entering the harbour with the intention to obstruct other users of the port. We also encourage all participants to follow the directions of police.

The community is reminded that under NSW legislation, the safe passage of vessels is protected. Unlawful activity may result in fines or imprisonment.

The NSW Police Force will adopt a zero-tolerance approach to actions which threaten public safety and the safe passage of vessels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMNwXVEeiRY

Charges laid as police operation continues - Port of Newcastle

Sunday, 24 November 2024 06:20:26 PM

170 people have been arrested this weekend over the disruption of a major facility and failure to comply with marine safety directions in the Port of Newcastle.

Yesterday (Saturday 23 November 2024), two men and a woman were charged with not comply with direction by authorised officer relating to safety.

Just after 10am today (Sunday 24 November 2024), a large group of people entered the shipping channel and presented serious safety risks to themselves and others, causing significant disruptions to the operation of the harbour.

156 adults and 14 youths have now been charged in total - 138 with disruption of a major facility, and 32 with not comply with direction by authorised officer relating to safety. Two were refused bail to appear at Newcastle Local Court tomorrow (Monday 24 November 2024).

34 people were required to be retrieved from the water during arrests, ten people required assistance from police to return to shore, and one police officer suffered a fractured ankle.

Unrelated to activities in the water, there were numerous traffic infringements issued, and a further five charges were laid.

Despite disruptions, the harbour remains open and continues to operate with 31 shipping movements over the weekend since Friday (22 November 2024).

The police operation is ongoing.

The NSW Police Force recognises and supports the rights of individuals and groups to exercise their rights of free speech and peaceful assembly; however, the priority for NSW Police is always the safety of the wider community and there will be zero tolerance for illegal and dangerous behaviour.

Andrew George, 35, from the Lismore area in the Northern Rivers region was charged with two offences, including seriously disrupting a major facility and operating a vessel as to interfere with others use of waters, before being released on bail.

ECHO, 25 November 2024:

Police minister condemns protesters

Minister for Police Yasmin Catley has released a statement on behalf of the government thanking police for protecting public safety and condemning arrested protesters.

Minister Catley has described as reckless the behaviour of those she says think it ‘acceptable to waste critical policing resources and endanger officers with self-serving stunts’ and ‘irresponsible theatrics’.

GRAPHICS: @RisingTideAus

Clarence Valley State of Play: as the first day of Summer draws closer memories of past summers surface

 

Right now the Clarence River flow at Newbold Crossing is registering in the >80% stream flow percentile, the Shannon Creek side dam is at 99% capacity and soil moisture is for the most part within acceptable limits across the Clarence Valley which is classified 100% non-drought.

However, the Australian Summer officially begins on 1 December 2024 and air temperatures and water evaporation rates are bound to rise.

So how is the New South Wales Combined Drought Indicator (CDI) Map likely to look come December?

Where we are going?

NSW Dept. of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Climate Branch, Drought Forecasting, 17 November 2022:

NOTE: The DPIRD drought forecast for NSW presents the ‘Most Likely’ Combined Drought Indicator (CDI) category for the forecast period. The Most Likely CDI category is determined by identifying the 'mode' of the CDI. The mode is the category that appears most frequently across all possible forecast outcomes in the ensemble run. It is the most common prediction for drought conditions in the forecast period based on the model's simulations.

Where have we been along the Clarence Valley drought history continuum, 20 November 2019 to 9 October 2024?

Click on graphs to enlarge

Fine Flower & environs

Heifer Station & environs

Grafton & environs

Maclean & environs

Yamba

*All maps & graphs were created on 17.11.24 using interactive tools created by NSW Dept. of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Climate Branch

Combined Drought Indicators

The NSW Combined Drought Indicator (CDI) includes four indicators for rainfall, soil moisture, plant growth and drought direction which, used together, can indicate the five phases of drought.

Rainfall Index (RI)

The RI is the percentile rank of rainfall aggregated over 12 months. The ranking is made using a 30 year (1980-2010) baseline which captures recent big shifts in climate variability, and factors in climate change. This provides an index between 0 and 100 where values approaching 0 are close to driest, and those approaching 100 close to the wettest, for any given region. Percentile-based indices like the RI have a uniform distribution regardless of their climatic setting, which is an attractive feature in NSW given the presence of rangeland, temperate and sub-tropical climates which have skewed, normal and log-normal rainfall distributions.

Soil Water Index (SWI)

The SI is calculated using the same procedure as the RI, but uses a soil moisture field derived from the DPI AgriModTM soil water balance. Plant available soil water from layer one (0-10cm) and layer two (11-45 cm), the assumed maximum rooting zone, are aggregated and used to calculate the SWI. Similar to the RI, the SWI is an index between 0 and 100. In most districts of NSW a value of 0 means there is no plant available water held in the profile. The SWI is a hydrological index, but its configuration means that it is more useful as an indicator of conditions for dryland than irrigated agriculture.

Plant Growth Index (PGI)

The PGI is calculated using the same general procedure as the RI, using the output from DPI’s crop and pasture models. Crop stress and pasture growth data are taken from DPI AgriModTM, and the percentile rank calculated for each day. If the predominant land use in a given area is cropping, the PGI uses the crop-derived data, otherwise it uses the pasture growth indicator. The PGI is an agronomic drought index which is not only sensitive to moisture but also temperature variation and seasonal events such as frost. It is important to note that the PGI tracks the influence of climate on production potential across broad areas only. This provides a regional indicator of conditions. In the paddock, management decisions like fertiliser application and timing, sowing times and stocking rates drive outcomes on the ground, and in-field conditions can be above or below the regional indicator reported by EDIS.

BACKGROUND

The main water supply (other than the village systems of Wooli and Minnie Water) in the Clarence Valley is sourced from the Nymboida River, flowing through a section of the wider Clarence River catchment area.

At this time of year the Clarence Valley urban water supply is drawing around 14.26ML/per day from the river weir.

The Nymboida River also gravity feeds water to Shannon Creek Dam when required and, if the Nymboida river flow is too low (less than 225 Megalitres a day) or turbid post-flood, the Clarence Valley's principal urban areas receive water sourced from the off-stream storage at Shannon Creek.

Overall, Shannon Creek Dam is used to supply the Clarence Valley’s water about 5% of the time. Right now this dam is at 99% capacity.

This scenario is complicated by the fact that historically the Clarence Valley also supplies water out of the catchment to Coffs Harbour City local government area and this draw on catchment water is constant and always exceeding an optimal sustainability level for average daily drawn down.

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