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Abstract
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.