IT was still difficult to tell how climate change would affect rainfall in the Hunter and other NSW coastal areas, the organiser of a major hydrology and water resources conference in Newcastle said yesterday.
University of Newcastle hydrologist and civil engineer Professor Garry Willgoose said climate models predicted something between an 8 per cent increase and an 8 per cent fall in Hunter rainfall.
He said the wide variation in climate model predictions for rainfall made it hard for water authorities to plan.
"The problem is that by the time you get all of the data to see the signals, it might be too late to do anything about it," Professor Willgoose said.
About 220 people are attending the 32nd hydrology and water resources symposium, a three-day gathering that began yesterday at Newcastle City Hall.
Hunter Water managing director Kevin Young opened the conference yesterday morning but spoke as the newly installed chairman of the Water Services Association of Australia.
"While we all live in the driest inhabited country on earth, that doesn't mean a good water solution for one city will also work just as well in another city," Mr Young said.
"All options should be on the table for consideration including recycling, desalination, new dams and new decentralised wastewater systems."
Professor Willgoose said the conference had two main themes, the success or otherwise of this decade's major water reforms "the jury is still out on that," he said and the impact of climate change on rainfall.
Ian Kirkwood
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