The Indus river basin supports the world’s largest irrigation system. Climate change is definitely adding risks to the prime sectors of agriculture, energy, disaster management, and sanitation, where water plays the most critical role. The main issue is uncertainty in the volume and seasonality of future water supply. The recent incidence of extreme rainfall and flooding has led to devastation. At the same time, all scenarios predict a serious shortfall in future water supply in the basin and point to the need for better (transboundary) management. Since the integrated water resources management (IWRM) approach at basin level has successfully addressed similar problems in other river basins, we feel that an integrated river basin management (IRBM) approach for the Indus will not only enhance supply by storing water during high flow but also increase use efficiency by allocating water amongst the sectors and users more judiciously. What is needed are policy and institutional reforms that ensure both equitable access and remove disincentives to conserving water. In MRD 31.3 (August 2011), 3 initial papers focusing on the Indus Basin and water resource management were published; in this issue, 3 additional papers discuss the linkages between climate, precipitation, glaciology, and river runoff.