The delivery of sustainable water supplies in Australia will require water managers and engineers to factor in a range of predicted variations in climate and long-term demand for water resources, according to a CSIRO climate and water expert, Dr Francis Chiew. “With an expected decline in water availability in parts of Australia comes the need for more reliable quantification of historical and likely future water availability,” Dr Chiew said today in an address to the Practical Responses to Climate Change Conference in Melbourne. “Predictions of future water availability and runoff characteristics are improving rapidly with more data becoming available and with the rapid progress in climate and water science.