In many countries, water governance is still in a state of confusion. In both developing and developed nations, water policy, to a greater or lesser degree, intrinsically raises governance challenges. These include fragmented institutional structures, a lack of clarity on roles and responsibilities and questionable resource allocation. Meanwhile, inadequate financial management, low capacity of the implementing organisations, and unpredictability in the investment climate for private sector actors are also typical. Moreover, accountability of politicians, policy makers and implementing agencies is often lacking, in situations where the regulatory environment can be unclear or non-existent. Many of these problems are rooted in a general lack of knowledge and awareness of rights and responsibilities, and are broadly related to poor governance.