The second edition of the Colombo Development Dialogues focused on ‘Water Security and Climate Variability’. The panel brought together a range of individuals from the government, private sector, development agencies, and academia, to provide expert interventions on various aspects of water security. The panel was complemented by five pre-identified Discussants, who provided additional perspectives and evaluations of the panellists’ comments to facilitate further questions and discussions. As such, perspectives on institutional arrangements around water in Sri Lanka, the pricing of water and agricultural foods, the different implications of water security for women and men, the role of the private sector, and data-driven solutions for resilience were discussed and debated during the course of the event.