International Water Law Series – serie

In A Procedural Framework for Transboundary Water Management in the Mekong River Basin: Shared Mekong for a Common Future, Qi Gao explores procedural implications of integrated water resources management and its application in the Mekong River Basin. As a problem-based study, enlightening conclusions are made based on the increasingly polycentric nature of transboundary cooperation in the Mekong region. The procedural requirements in the Mekong context, both the ideal and practical scenarios are considered, combined with selected case studies.Qi Gao convincingly asserts the necessity to enhance decision-making processes and suggests procedural legal mechanisms to institutionalize sustainability concepts in transboundary cooperation.

Water security threats arising from inadequate access to water for sustaining ecosystems, livelihoods, human well-being and socio-economic development has gained increasing attention over the past decades all over the world, but especially in international river basins shared by two or more states. In the Aral Sea basin, shared by Afghanistan and five post-Soviet republics of Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - water security issues are extremely pressing due to heavy reliance on, and competition over, shared waters. Promoting Transboundary Water Security in the Aral Sea Basin through International Law addresses the current gap in the literature by moving beyond the static identification of treaties and norms to examine how these treaties and norms can work for water security in practice. In its thorough and incisive scholarship, the book serves as a contribution toward peaceful and sustainable regulation of transboundary watercourses and their ecosystems in the Aral Sea basin.

The UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes provides invaluable insights into the contribution of this international agreement towards transboundary water cooperation via its legal provisions, accompanying institutional arrangements and subsidiary policy mechanisms.Contributing authors - experts on key aspects of the Convention - address a broad range of issues, primarily concerning its: development and evolution; relationship with other multi-lateral agreements; regulatory framework and general principles; tools for arresting transboundary pollution; procedural rules; compliance and liability provisions; and select issues including its Protocol on Water and Health.

Promoting Equity, Cooperation and Innovation in the Fields of Transboundary Waters and Natural Resources Management honours the memory and legacy of Dr. David J.H. Phillips, an extraordinary scientist, consultant and friend of the editors and contributors. He was a scientist of exceptional quality, dedicated to the practical study of aquatic environments, be they marine, freshwater or virtual. This volume contains excerpts from his meticulously researched work from a wide range of settings globally. Colleagues' essays provide insights to a man who lived life to the utmost, worked to the highest professional standards and had a unique gift in challenging situations to generate understanding and practical responses through his curiosity, remarkable ingenuity, and sheer hard work. His work opens many new paths of research and continues to inspire scientists and researchers in the fields of marine biology and pollution, fresh water issues, and conflict over transboundary water resources.

In Following the Proper Channels: Tributaries in the Mekong Legal Regime, Bennett Bearden offers in-depth policy and legal analyses of the marginalization of tributaries in the context of the 1995 Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin, law of international watercourses, hydrosovereignty, and the national economic development interests of the Mekong riparians. As a problem-based study, enlightening conclusions are made based on the increasingly state-centric nature of water resources management in the Mekong region through pursuit of national agendas in the unilateral and bilateral development of tributaries. The overarching legal and hydropolicy issue is whether states can simultaneously pursue hydrosovereignty on tributaries and ensure the Mekong legal regime’s efficacy to achieve holistic water resources management and basin-wide governance.

In International Groundwater Law and the US-Mexico Border Region, Maria E. Milanes provides a study and analysis of the international groundwater law. The regulation and groundwater management along the US-Mexico border reflect the current international trends for management of transboundary groundwater. International Groundwater Law and the US-Mexico Border Region offers a new international legal and institutional framework to manage fossil aquifers and groundwater in conjunctive use with surface water, where specific guidelines and recommendations for water banking can improve water allocation and protect the environment. This framework can be adapted to any region of around the world. The US-Mexico border is the case study selected to apply and demonstrate the efficacy of this legal and institutional framework.

The history of rivers crossing the borders of rival countries, such as East and West Germany, China and Russia, the United States and its neighbors, has much to teach about international watercourse management. In the first book written in English about international watercourses on the Korean Peninsula, Yeonghwan Chang uses a study of foreign cases to propose a wide range of specific strategies and projects for efficient use of shared rivers on the Korean Peninsula. These strategies may also provide useful guidance for future cooperative projects between South Korea and North Korea.

With increasing global pressure on scarce international water resources, the importance of dispute avoidance and resolution at the international level cannot be understated. A 'Stepped Approach' to Disputes on International Watercourses explores a conceptual and practical framework for addressing these complex challenges, presenting a structured, multi-faceted approach that integrates technical expertise, diplomatic negotiations, and, when necessary, binding adjudication. Drawing on a broad analysis of 225 international watercourse agreements, it puts forward a ‘stepped approach’ as an important tool that can foster cooperation, prevent conflicts, and ensure the equitable and sustainable use of our shared water resources.