Drinking water is promoted to improve beverage nutrition and reduce the prevalence of obesity. The aims of this study were to identify how water was provided to children in child-care settings and to determine the extent to which water access changed after a federal and state child-care care beverage policy was implemented in 2011 and 2012 in California. Two independent cross-sectional samples of licensed child-care providers completed a self-administered survey in 2008 (n=429) and 2012 (n=435). Water provision in California child-care settings improved significantly between samples of sites studied in 2008 and 2012. A larger percentage of child-care sites always served water with meals and snacks in 2012 than in 2008 (47.0% vs. 28.0%); and a larger percentage of sites made water easily and visibly available for children to self-serve both indoors (77.9% vs. 69.0%) and outside (78.0% vs. 69.0%) in 2012 compared with 2008. Sites that participated in the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program had greater access to water indoors and outside than sites that did not participate. Room for improvement remains, as well as a need to determine optimal ways to provide water in child-care settings.