Chronic kidney disease (CKD) imposes a significant global health burden. In the United States, one in three adults are at risk for CKD currently affecting over 28 million Americans. While several studies have demonstrated the benefit of treating traditional risk factors in CKD, including hypertension with pharmacologic agents such as blockade of the renin-angiotensin system (RAAS), there is scarce data on the advantages of sodium and fluid management in this population. Both experimental and observational studies have shown improvement in hypertension and cardiovascular outcomes with sodium restriction to ≤2.3 grams per day, however, to date there are very few randomized controlled trials demonstrating a benefit in sodium reduction for the prevention or progression of CKD. Similarly, studies on increasing fluid consumption have shown to be advantageous in polycystic kidney disease as well as chronic nephrolithiasis, yet no randomized controlled trials exist on the fluid management in patients with kidney disease. This review aims to explore the evidence of sodium restriction and fluid management in the CKD population as well as underlying mechanisms and clinical barriers of sodium and water management as conservative therapy.