Developing countries are faced with the dual challenge of adapting to climate change even as current water needs remain unmet. We review the literature specifically on water provisioning in this context to see what insights can be derived for achieving better integration across disciplinary and research-practice divides. We identify several disconnects in the climate-vulnerability literature: scale mismatches, missing linkages, multiple stressors and concerns, concepts emerging from different intellectual traditions, and inattention to stakeholder priorities. Recent work attempts to overcome some of these challenges. At the conceptual level, the coupled human–environment systems (CHES) framework forces analysts to address scale mismatches and multiple stressors, although given its breadth, applications of CHES still tend to follow disciplinary divides. At the methodological level, participatory/mediated modelling forces attention to stakeholder priorities while historical/comparative methods provide an empirical assessment of long-term adaptation not just short-term reactive strategies. In conclusion, we suggest ways of further integrating the strengths of these approaches in the context of water provisioning in developing countries.