reporting standards for greenhouse gas emissions, however, there are strict rules around when and how vegetation can be recognised as carbon sinks. Some of the activity under these actions may be ineligible. Key and acronyms AAP – a system Adaptation Action Plan, as specified the Victorian Climate Change Act 2017. Adaptation – changes in natural or human systems to prepare for actual or expected changes in the climate in order to minimise harm, act on opportunities or cope with the consequences. ARR – Australian Rainfall and Runoff: A guide to flood estimation. BAU – business as usual. BOM – Bureau of Meteorology. Climate Change – changes in the state of the climate, including increases in extreme weather events, long-term changes in weather patterns and sea level rise, attributed directly or indirectly to human activity. CMA – Catchment Management Authority. Consequence – the impact arising from a climate change incident, e.g. water operators become severely dehydrated in a heatwave. CSIRO – Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. DEWLP – Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. DHHS – Department of Health and Human Services. DPC – Department of Premier and Cabinet. DPP – Drought Preparedness DTF – Department of Treasury and Finance. Drainage – The and functions related to the collection and removal of local rainfall runoff from land prone to natural water-logging. Dryland rural drainage – The works and functions related to the collection, and timely removal, of excess water generated by high rainfall to support agriculture production. It involves enhancing the hydraulic capacity of drainage lines and soils to ensure water will flow off (or through) and away from land, to support increased agricultural production in dryland areas. Emission Reduction – actions taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, leading to a reduction in climate change related events. Some climate change specialists refer to these actions as climate change mitigation. EMV – Emergency Management Victoria. EPA – Environment Protection Authority. ESC – Essential Services Commission. Events – the intrinsic source of a climate change related risk that may result in an undesirable outcome. Events include, for example, drought, storms and sea level rise.
Floodplain – Low-lying land adjacent to a river or stream with unique ecosystems dependent on inundation from flood events. Hazard – a potential or contained threat. Incidents – happen when a desired outcome is not achieved because of climate change. It occurs when an event leads to a consequence, e.g. a flood event becomes an incident when it destroys valuable crops that were ready for harvest. IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IWN – Intelligent Water Network. IWM – Integrated Water Management. Likelihood – is the probability that a climate change-related event or incident might happen, e.g. heatwaves will be more common (likely) because of climate change. LTWRA – Long-Term Water Resource Assessment. MDBA – Murray Darlin Basin Authority. MLDRIN – Murray Darling River Indigenous Nations. NPV – net present value. RCS – Regional Catchment Strategies. Resilience – the capacity of a community, business, or natural environment to prevent, withstand, respond to, and recover from disruption. Risk – The chance of something happening that will have an impact on an objective, system, sector, asset, activity or community. A risk is often discussed in terms of the event (for example, a weather event or climatic change), the consequence of the event (positive or negative), and the likelihood it will happen. Residual risk is the remaining chance of something happening after action has been taken to reduce the risk. Runoff – The amount of rainfall that drains into the surface drainage network to become stream flow; also as rainfall excess. Sewerage – the network of pipes, pumps and equipment that transfers all our wastewater from our homes and businesses to a treatment plant. Recycled water – wastewater that has been collected and treated to a higher standard so that it can be used for a variety of purposes. Stormwater – Runoff from areas. There is a net increase in runoff from urban development due to water not being able to seep into the ground because of impervious surfaces, such as roofs and roads. SWS – Sustainable Water Strategy. Threat – a hazard in a state that it is harmful to people, infrastructure or the environment. UWS – Urban Water Strategy. VDP – Victorian Desalination VEWH – Victorian Environmental Water Holder. VFMS – Victorian Floodplain Management Strategy.