As human populations expand and demands upon natural resources increase, the need to manage the people's living environments becomes more important, but also more difficult. Land and water management is especially critical as the use of upstream watersheds can drastically affect large numbers of people living in downstream watersheds. An integrated approach that stresses both the importance of participatory planning and the institutional and technical constraints and opportunities is therefore necessary. The institutional and technical context for managing watersheds and river basins, including the involvement of both the public and private sectors, is also examined.