In 1998 the Department for International Development (DFID) funded the project ‘Groundwater drought early warning for vulnerable areas’ as part of the DFID Knowledge and Research (KaR) programme, a collaboration between UK partners BGS and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), and with the Bureau of Water, Mines and Energy in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Drawing on village surveys and stakeholder consultations across sectors, this project evolved a broader, more holistic approach to the study of drought and water supply. Rather than focus exclusively on drought and water availability, constraints on household access to and use of water were explored through the lens of water security. This, in turn, highlighted links between the household water economy (across seasons; between good and bad years) and wider livelihood strategies, particularly in relation to inter-dependencies between food and water security.