The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the project by: (1) providing a discussion of the ways that success can be defined when talking about successful institutional adaptation to climate change impacts posed on water resources; (2) providing a review of specific ?successful? institutional adaptive measures and principles; and (3) providing suggestions about some general principles that can aid successful institutional adaptation (institutional design, process, environment, and principles). This paper is based upon both a review of literature and the views of the authors.