The paper discusses three key criteria—reliability, resiliency, and vulnerability—to evaluate the performance of water resource systems. These criteria help assess the likelihood of system failure, the speed of recovery from failure, and the severity of failure consequences, respectively. The authors argue that these criteria are essential for selecting appropriate capacities, configurations, and operating policies for water resource projects, especially during periods of drought, peak demands, or extreme weather. The paper also highlights the limitations of traditional methods like Bayesian analysis and multiattribute utility theory, which can be complex and may not reflect the priorities of all stakeholders. Instead, it proposes the use of these risk-related criteria within a multiobjective framework to better understand how a project might perform under uncertain conditions. The concepts are illustrated through a reservoir operation example, where different operating policies are evaluated based on their reliability, resiliency, and vulnerability. The results show that high reliability often comes at the cost of increased vulnerability, and vice versa, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach in system design and selection.The paper discusses three key criteria—reliability, resiliency, and vulnerability—to evaluate the performance of water resource systems. These criteria help assess the likelihood of system failure, the speed of recovery from failure, and the severity of failure consequences, respectively. The authors argue that these criteria are essential for selecting appropriate capacities, configurations, and operating policies for water resource projects, especially during periods of drought, peak demands, or extreme weather. The paper also highlights the limitations of traditional methods like Bayesian analysis and multiattribute utility theory, which can be complex and may not reflect the priorities of all stakeholders. Instead, it proposes the use of these risk-related criteria within a multiobjective framework to better understand how a project might perform under uncertain conditions. The concepts are illustrated through a reservoir operation example, where different operating policies are evaluated based on their reliability, resiliency, and vulnerability. The results show that high reliability often comes at the cost of increased vulnerability, and vice versa, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach in system design and selection.