The Law of International Watercourses

Professor Stephen C. McCaffrey is Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California. He served two terms on the International Law Commission, chaired that body for one of its sessions, and was the Commission's special rapporteur on international watercourses. Professor McCaffrey is a member of the Implementation Committee of the UNECE Water Convention and was the 2017 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate. He has served as counsel to States in cases before the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration and has published widely in the field.

This detailed, copiously researched and eminently readable text on international watercourses from Oxford University Press (OUP) sheds the light of rigorous scrutiny and special expertise on a host of issues relating to international watercourses; environmental as well as legal. ... Indubitably this is a book which deserves a place in every well-stocked law library.

• Part I. Introduction 1: Human Use of Fresh Water and the Coming Era of Water Scarcity 2: The Concept of the International Watercourse System Part II. Evolution and Theoretical Bases of the Law of International Watercourses 3: The Evolution of the Law of International Watercourses 4: Theoretical Bases of International Watercourse Law: An Examination of the Four Principal Theories 5: The Contribution of the Law of Navigation Part III. The Major Cases and Controversies: A Survey of State Practice 6: The Major Cases 7: Selected Case Studies Part IV. Fundamental Rights and Obligations 8: Introduction: The 1997 United Nations Convention and Its Precursors A. Substantive Obligations 9: Equitable and Reasonable Utilization 10: The Obligation to Prevent Harm to Other Riparian States 11: The Obligation to Protect International Watercourses and Their Ecosystems B. Procedural Obligations 12: Procedural Obligations C. Groundwater 13: The Special Case of Groundwater D. Dispute Avoidance and Settlement 14: Dispute Avoidance and Settlement: Selected Aspects