New strategies for managing urban waters and protecting urban aquatic habitats are implemented by introducing specific policies and guidelines in various countries, or blocks of countries (e.g., the European Union). It is generally recognized that water policies are difficult to transfer among countries with different levels of development, socioeconomic conditions, and environmental challenges. Consequently, only a general discussion of the types of policies used in various countries to protect and restore aquatic habitats is presented and further documented by examples from a number of countries.