This monograph provides a framework and guidelines for the assessment of institutional frameworks for integrated water resources management (IWRM). The framework and guidelines were developed to enable expert teams of the Inter-American Development Bank to incorporate capacity-building considerations into water-related projects. The framework and guidelines were tested in four countries with different physical, social and economic environments in Latin America and the Caribbean. Using this framework, it is possible to identify shortcomings in existing water management arrangements and to formulate interventions at and between the constitutional, organizational, and operational levels. To guide the formulation of interventions, an ideal IWRM situation is formulated. Due to the temporal and spatial specificity, a desired IWRM situation is formulated in a process which consists of ten operational steps. This process is based on an extensive consultation and participation of all relevant stakeholders. The fields of interventions concern awareness creation, policy development, legal and financial arrangements, human resources development and management information and decision support systems.