As the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report makes clear, water is in the eye of the climate management storm. Global warming and related climate changes are predicted to present significant challenges over the next century. These challenges are increasingly better understood and there is growing consensus on their likely scale. To date, much attention has been focused on the dimensions of temperature and sea level rise. Substantial work has also been done on some of the consequences, such as changes in rainfall and the risk of more, and more intense, floods and droughts. However, not nearly enough work has been done to understand how to cope with the potential impact of climate change on the water environment at a regional, national and local level.