A new relationship between the Cotton Industry and Regional Natural Resource Management (NRM) bodies has successfully capitalised on the implementation of NRM Best Management Practices within cotton catchments. The Regional NRM bodies' co-investment with research organisations such as the Cotton Catchment Communities CRC (Cotton CRC) enables them to align their on-ground investment to the latest research, to gain greater access to technical specialists and gives them credibility when working with growers. From an industry perspective it enables incentive funding by Regional NRM Bodies to be directly linked to the farming systems in order to achieve both production and catchment outcomes. As a result these partnerships link incentives and support available, to farmer's practical management changes. This accelerates the implementation of best management practices on cotton farms and enables the industry to demonstrate to the broader community its responsible stewardship of these resources. This paper presents two examples of how these partnerships work to improve water management and highlights some of the catchment and industry outcomes that can be obtained from such partnerships.