The RBDAs were expected to take over planning and programming functions, including the development of District Management Plans. However, the new institutional framework encountered serious opposition from interest groups and experts, including an influential NGO, the “183 Group”.11 Interest groups accused the authorities of introducing arbitrary delimitations of the hydrological basins without adequate consultations with the regions, inconsistency of the new framework with the previous water basins arrangement and the European directives, and lack of transition periods for appropriate introduction of the new framework. Due to difficulties in introducing the new governance system, the RBDAs were not created. To fill the gap and avoid non-compliance with the WFD, a new legal framework created in 2009 assigned the task of developing the first river basin management plans (RBMPs) to six selected, already existing national river basin authorities in co-operation with the regions belonging to each district (Table 4.2).12 In the case of the regional districts of Sardinia and Sicily, responsibility was assigned to the regions.