South Asia has been defined by historic and inextricable connections between water and development. However, rapid population growth, several transboundary river basins, and competing pressures from industrial, agricultural, and domestic sectors in all the countries of the region have created a daunting set of challenges related to the sustainability, accessibility, quality, and equity in the sharing of water resources. As issues related to water—availability, security, quality, conflict, and natural disasters—become more pressing, the focus needs to be on research, training, capacity building, and knowledge mobilization. Multi-disciplinary engagement, collaborative training, strong leadership, and local capacity-building endeavors are key to shaping new, more effective paradigms and approaches to water management. SaciWATERs, the South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies, was formed as a project on the theme "water for food and rural development" after the 2000 World Water Forum in The Hague, with the aim of bringing a paradigm perspective. Based in Hyderabad, India, the consortium comprises accomplished scholars and practitioners from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. SaciWATERs produces new knowledge to address the pressing problems in the water sector in South Asia through education, research, and advocacy. It has created a new group of professionals and experts through its Crossing Boundaries Project, which aims to contribute to the paradigm shift in water resources management in South Asia through various partnership-based programs for the capacity building of water professionals via higher education, innovative and socially focused learning research ("research with an impact"), knowledge-based development, and networking.