How can an emerging research agenda on household water insecurity support interdisciplinary efforts that advance SDG6 and the global water agenda? What does this offer, or extend in terms of theory and application? Dr Jepson address these questions through empirical cases, some developed from ongoing projects on household water insecurity in Brazil’s semi-arid Northeast region, where she has been working since 2015. Dr Jepson concludes with reflections on frontiers, challenges, and opportunities – returning (but probably not resolving) the tensions at this intersection of critical work, social scientific inquiry, and the operating space of science-policy dialogues supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals.