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Over the last two decades, many investigators have developed seasonal climate forecasts, with the intention of their application to improved management of water resources. The number of routine applications that have emerged in the USA is relatively small. Rayner et al (2005) painted a rather bleak picture of the prospects for the application of these forecasts citing institutional and individual structures for rewards and constraints. Forecasts that are potentially useful have consequently not seen much application, and the attention shifted to climate change scenarios, and to near term weather forecasts. It is interesting that despite the biases/uncertainties in, and the low net present value of the actions proposed to respond to the later 21st century climate scenarios, there has been tremendous interest generated in academia, political spheres and in practice. It is not uncommon for people to now conclusively assert …