Abstract Local governments have a big stake in water resources management and a potentially important role to play to further IWRM. Two main strategies are identified in which local governments can enact that role: 1) through their engagement with water resources management institutions, and 2) by applying IWRM principles in their own mandate through local actions. In practice, however, their role remains limited and actions are sometimes isolated, as shown in a case study from the Netherlands. Reasons for that often come down to poor local governance due to weak inter-institutional relations, and lack of transparency in decision-making. This paper proposes a framework to analyse these capacity gaps. Such analysis can help developing recommendations for capacity development initiatives in IWRM. Keywords Local governance, local government, capacity, Integrated Water Resources Management, the Netherlands Introduction: bringing IWRM to the local level I ntegrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has emerged during recent years as a response to the so-called “water crisis”, of which the manifestations are well-known and rehearsed. It is an approach which seeks to tackle some the root causes of this crisis: uncoordinated development, use and management of water resources. It aims to do so by moving away from traditional sub-sector based approaches (water and sanitation, irrigation, industry, environment, etc) to a more holistic approach to water management. IWRM is an approach based upon a set of key principles (the famous Dublin principles (WMO, 1992), or a variation on those), which emphasise process rather than output. These principles offer a framework for analysing, and subsequently managing multiple uses of water in situations of increasing competition.One of the actors with a big stake in water resources management in IWRM are local governments. Availability of water resources for local services provision (such as water supply, sanitation and solid waste management) has often been taken for granted, or at most as a boundary condition. With increasing competition for scarce water resources and concerns around pollution it has become evident that performance of services delivery is greatly influenced by the water resources themselves. In addition, local government has key responsibilities in development planning and promotion, and local environmental management (Jouravlev, 2003; Mazibuko and Pegram, 2004). In these areas of their mandate, water is also a key issue, e.g. in terms of flood and drought management or the planning of green spaces.