Sustainable Integrated Watershed Management (SIWM) paradigm is becoming more important in terms of managing and protecting natural resources in many countries. Turkey’s biggest problem is that the state organization and structure of the legislation are not appropriate for SIWM paradigm. Between government institutions as synchronous and concentric work has not yet developed. On the other hand, there are incompatibilities in the shareholders’ expectations and requests that makes development of such approaches more complex. In addition, inventory of natural resources that are crucial for SIWM are either nonexistent or insufficient. Increasing of rural population and poverty causes the destruction of natural resources. The purpose of this study is to investigate the administrative, legal, economic and ecological problems in Turkey in terms of SIWM. An example of Tatlıçay watershed is used to highlight the characteristics of legal and administrative structures that have to be changed before SIWM can be adopted. The main problem observed in the sample watershed is that the eco-hydrological watershed boundaries are incompatible with the administrative and legal boundaries. Also, the conflict among the different administrative branches and the lack of relevant data cause problems in the implementation of the management plans. In this paper, options are identified for the reconciliatory strategic decisions about the implementation of sustainable integrated watershed management in Turkey. The paper also focusses on the legal and administrative problems attributed of the water resources and watershed management system in Turkey.