This study addresses the role of street‐level bureaucrats in water management and examines what factors influence the implementation of the programme of measures that are part of the European Water Framework Directive. The impact of two factors – the bureaucrats' policy understandings and their implementation resources – on implementation is examined through a qualitative case study at sub‐national level in Sweden. The results verify the critical role of these bureaucrats as only one‐third make decisions, or take action, based on the programme of measures. The results further suggest that the bureaucrats’ understandings of how coherent the policies are, and whom they consult in cases of uncertainty, are important. The implementing bureaucrats perceive policy as coherent and have rich networks of advice, including responsible government authorities, while the non‐implementing bureaucrats experience significant policy incoherencies and have sparse advice networks. Thus, policy‐makers can support implementation by adjusting policy and by improving existing, and organizing new, resources to provide these bureaucrats with guidance. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment