In the face of an uncertain climate future and population growth, water managers will need to depend on effective tools to help them make decisions about the management of precious water resources. Join us at MODSIM 2019 where we present techniques for ‘soft-coding’ model inputs and parameters within the eWater Source function manager, to provide a more flexible approach to scenario modelling, enabling the creation of one ‘master’ model with the functionality to model a diverse range of scenarios, including greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, demand growth, water quality, storage augmentation, network upgrades, storage targets and water restriction curves. We also highlight the power of visual communication through incorporating animated schematics of the water supply network and aerial drone footage within ‘how to’ videos to quickly develop a shared understanding of the key features of these water supply systems and how they are represented within the model.