The governance of hydrosocial risk in peri-urban South Australia

Climate change is generating levels of environmental risk that are jeopardising modern development. As the management of water systems becomes more difficult, approaches to governance and engagement within regions are increasingly shaping adaptation successes and failures. We use theory on hydrosocial systems and risk to critically analyse stakeholder experiences of a transition in South Australian water management in peri-urban Adelaide, with detail from the Langhorne Creek viticultural region. Local prescription of water resources has limited over-exploitation and supported landowners to use water in sophisticated ways. When community stakeholders deliberated on common concerns with governance organisations for mutually beneficial outcomes, decision-making supported successful hydrosocial adaptation. Ongoing challenges, such as a lack of confidence in the scientific knowledge guiding decisions, were accentuated when the process was politicised and engagement became inauthentic. If trust between governance organisations and local stakeholders is broken, it is difficult to re-engage the farming community with adaptation decision-making. In contrast, by working closely with community end-users, government can enable appropriate behaviour and guide adaptive management. Attention to hydrosocial processes will be crucial to facilitate effective local adaptation policy in response to climate risk.