Climate, water and wine

Enabling adaptation to interacting stressors 

Primary industries must adapt to multiple interacting and compounding pressures. Apart from climate change, the industry presents management challenges, complicated decision making and, in some cases, accelerating system-wide transformation.

Wine and viticulture is New Zealand’s fastest growing primary industry, with urgent adaptation needs that have not yet been addressed.

Focussing on the Marlborough Region, this project is assessing the combined effects of climate change and changing water availability, and what’s required to secure future sustainability. Working with land managers and others, the team is developing a sector-specific pathway to ensure emerging risks and opportunities are managed effectively.

The research employs viticultural and soil-water modelling, geospatial analysis and integrated scenarios of change, combined with in-depth, qualitative research to document the decision context, identify strategies, and sequence adaptation options over time.