There exist several applications of sensor networks where reliability of data delivery can be critical. While the redundancy inherent in a sensor network might increase the degree of reliability, it by no means can provide any guaranteed reliability semantics. In this paper, we consider the problem of reliable sink-to-sensors data delivery. We first identify several fundamental challenges that need to be addressed, and are unique to a wireless sensor network environment. We then propose a scalable framework for reliable downstream data delivery that is specifically designed to both address and leverage the characteristics of a wireless sensor network, while achieving the reliability in an efficient manner. Through ns2 based simulations, we evaluate the proposed framework. Categories and Subject Descriptors C.2.2 [Computer-Communication Networks]: Network Protocols, Wireless Communications General Terms Algorithms, Design, Reliability, Performance Keywords Wireless Sensor Networks, Rel...