This article describes the background and conceptual foundations for the creation of autonomous water management authorities, which would be public organizations for residents of an area defined by economic and social considerations and covering an area framed by watershed divides. These authorities would have administrative and financial autonomy and the powers enabling them to conserve, protect and develop water and soil resources in the watersheds in their sphere of influence for the public good. Using the case of Peru as an example, we describe the nature of local, single-purpose governments, justify the need for creating them, and propose -for the case of natural resources- the establishment of a specific type of local government: autonomous authorities.