The subject of this paper is the legal status and the management of water resources. Public and private water resources are concepts introduced and elaborated in the current Water Law. In the history of law regulation, there was only the interest of regulating and managing water resources, while more contemporary regulation poses water resources as a commodity of interest for the Republic of Croatia. Present-day regulation recognizes an array of general and specific rules that specify the definition of water resources, their management and disposal, and their beneficiaries. It is essential to differentiate between public and private water resources. The difference is in the ownership whether other juridical or natural persons, apart from the Republic of Croatia, can be its owners. Such possibilities are available for the privatized while the ownership of the public water resources solely belongs to the Republic of Croatia. The Water Law even appoints boundaries of water resources, albeit with legal gaps as they are not precisely and thoroughly defined. Due to the precisely-defined end of its status as a point of interest for the Republic of Croatia, under specific circumstances the status of water resource ceases. The management of water resources presupposes several direct or indirect actions mostly carried out by the Republic of Croatia. Municipalities and regional authorities can also manage, as well as Croatian waters.