Research infrastructure - the facilities, resources, services, and tools that support advanced research, foster innovation, and address complex challenges - increasingly needs to accommodate the study of the dynamics of interconnected physical processes and their societal implications. This is especially true for water research, as freshwater is perhaps the most connecting natural resource and one that urgently needs sound science to meet the challenges posed by the impacts of climate change, extreme weather events, and human use and development. In 2023, Global Water Futures Observatories (GWFO) was set up as a national Canadian research facility to operate a network of instrumented water research observatories, deployable measurement systems and analytical laboratories, provide open access to water research data, and promote increased use of water research data and outcomes to help Canadians address the challenges of achieving water sustainability. Water research facilities operated by nine Canadian partner universities are contributing to this effort. Knowledge mobilization lessons learned from the first years of operation of this new type of organisation have included how to better coordinate data collection and preservation, improve discoverability, design data delivery based on the inputs from a diverse group of user representatives, and address the relevance of highly specialised scientific data to critical societal issues. Examples of deployment of GWFO datasets and their outcomes and of the interactions that are building effective knowledge networks can guide scientists and institutions in navigating increasingly complex science-policy interfaces.