Water plays a critical role in sustaining human health, food and energy security, and ecosystem services. Population growth, climate and land use change increasingly threaten water quality and quantity. Successful management of water resources requires an integrative understanding of coupled human and natural system components that can be used to generate practical, scientifically sound, and socially acceptable solutions. This Water and Society session provides a forum for discussing the advances in water resources systems analysis, planning and management to inform public policy, water resource allocation, conflict resolution, water governance, and sustainable development in a changing world.