Community participation is accepted widely as being necessary for sustainable development of watersheds. This study, based on a survey of 36 project villages in five states suggests that there is no shared understanding of the meaning of participation or the means of effectively operationalising it. The paper finds that organising communities to give them collective voice, giving them opportunities to make critical decisions on what the projects will do and making them share a portion of the costs are essential aspects of implementation processes to enhance community participation. A realistic strategy must also seek to change the capabilities and incentives of government bureaucracies themselves by creating situations in which it is in their best interest to work with communities.
