In a refrain familiar the world over, hastening to provide for growing populations and economies can often woefully outpace consideration of environmental impact. Unfortunately, the tune is often sung until oversight becomes a health risk if not crisis. That the tapping of Indian (and Bangladeshi) groundwaters for drinking and irrigation has led to widespread arsenic poisoning is a notorious example. In this special policy issue, Chakraborti et al. review the decades of policies that have caused India to reconsider its water resource management practices, especially as its green and economic revolutions race ahead. © 2010 American Chemical Society.