Angola’s civil war caused a massive population movement from rural conflict areas to low-lying coastal zones between 1975 and 2002. More than half of Angola’s 27 million people now live in urban coastal settlements, floodplains and steep ravines vulnerable to climate extremes. Climate related risks are worsening and it is important to understand and prepare for them. Angola’s coastal areas are experiencing increasingly variable rainfall and pressure on water supplies and markets. But a dearth of relevant data has made it difficult to assess these risks. This paper demonstrates innovative methods in filling the information gap and how changes were introduced in how water is governed in four Angolan coastal cities.