​Considering the Azores as a region where the environmental standards are high, and their maintenance is nowadays a social consensus, reflected in the archipelago “trade mark”, the definition of public policies toward the protection, management and valuing of water are a key subject. The Azores River Basin, made by all the inland surface water bodies (rivers and lakes), as well as by the groundwater, transitional and coastal bodies, has been subject to two main planning exercises, which analysis allows to proceed to the identification of the major successes and constrains in what concerns public water policies. The objectives of the present paper are to present a brief description of the water occurrence in the Azores, regarding quantitative and qualitative scopes, and to critically analyze the water management practices, as well as the main planning exercises, in both cases in a evolutionary perspective along the time. Main results show that some problems are persistent, namely the lack of funding, the inefficient development of integrated policies and the low success regarding public participation. These problems have to be addressed in order to achieve the ambitious environmental objectives imposed by the national Water Law in the due delivery time. The several institutional arrangements regarding the public bodies made responsible by the water policies in the Azores are also of concern, causing a further obstacle to a major success.