It has been recognized for awhile now that the water resource management and planning sector must incorporate better understanding of climate variability and change into its decisions. There is an emerging body of science-policy collaborations that are attempting to better integrate climate research into management and decision making. However, there is an over-reliance on the regional downscaling of climate models to give future projections that are still highly uncertain and not on the appropriate time and spatial scales for decision makers to use. This paper will examine once such study, the Colorado River Water Availability Study (CRWAS), to explore disconnects between stakeholder needs and the study process and climate model results. The insights provided should better inform efforts to link climate vulnerability and risk analysis and technologies with “on the ground” decision making that incorporates broader understanding and ways of knowing about climate change and local climate risks.