Integrated impact assessment for land and water management

Impact assessment considers the future consequences of current or proposed actions, but multiple impact assessment types and silos of expertise make integration difficult.

When faced with the development of policy and planning for the complex bio-physical and social-economic systems found in river catchments, integrated impact assessment (IIA) becomes imperative.

IIA has well-recognised potential when considering multiple, intersecting impact domains in one impact assessment verses siloed technical workstreams, often not linked until the decision-making stage, and with little transparency around how integration transpires.

A “collective” and systemic view of all impacts is essential for understanding the causal relationships between system components and their full consequences including cumulative impacts.