Water Law & Policy Series – serie

Public and Private Participation in the Water and Wastewater Sector provides practical guidance on applying Public Private Partnership structures within the constraints of European legislation, with examples on how to ensure consistency with EU procurement, competition law and the Water Framework Directive. It reconciles the need for adequate regulation within the context of a monopoly provision of service – a major concern of the European competition policy. The purpose of this book is to provide practical guidance on how to introduce a Public Private Partnership (PPP) as a strategy towards helping meet the demands for massive capital investments and improved management and performance in the water and wastewater sector. The introduction of PPPs within a European context needs to be assessed against compliance with basic EU law principles related to Competition and the Water Framework Directive. International legal structures in the management, distribution and treatment of water are discussed. There is a brief overview of the present realities of European integration, the political and legal aspects involved in the water sector and two cases in which a viable solution was reached and which form the basis of this research. The book examines the general principles of EU law in terms of competition and procurement and how other directives have an impact on PPP. It then assesses the specific rules applicable to PPP in the EU context, and their implications in designing water PPPs. The book concludes with a review of two case studies (the City of Sofia, Bulgaria and the City of Tallinn, Estonia) that show how the Public Private Partnership structure chosen provides a sound legal basis and a viable way to achieve compliance with Community law and the Water Framework Directive, thus assisting the process of accession to the EU for each country. Public and Private Participation in the Water and Wastewater Sector: Developing Sustainable Legal Mechanisms is principally aimed at supporting municipal, provincial, and central governments and other policy makers seeking to improve water services. It is a must read for policymakers and practitioners seeking to navigate through the intricacies of EU legislation and the complexities of public private partnerships. The principles addressed in this book will also be useful outside the European context. See also: Private Sector Participation in Water Infrastructure, Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), 2009; Public Private Partnerships in the Water Sector, Innovation and Financial Sustainability, Cledan Mandri-Perrott and David Stiggers, 2012

With "integrated water resources management" (IWRM) the current buzzword in international circles, the real question is: how to operationalise a truly multidisciplinary approach to the effective management of shared watercourses. Based largely on the actual experience of HELP (Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy), the overall aim of the book is to produce a series of case studies from around the world (from the Aral Sea to Zimbabwe) that demonstrate how the "gaps" between hydrology, water law and management are actually bridged in practice. Is hydrological data relevant and used in the formulation of national and international water law and policy? Cases cited include examples of where this has happened and been successful or unsuccessful and where this has not happened and led to problems. This will act as a guide to how future water laws and polices can be made more effective via the use of accurate and up to date hydrological information.

Implementing the goal of sustainable development has long been heralded as the means by which the needs of both present and future generations can be met. However, finding a long-term balance between economic, social and environmental interests, the basic tenet of sustainable development, has proved largely illusive in practice. This book shows that while a number of legal frameworks to help promote the goal of sustainable development have been proposed at the international level they fail to fully capture the essence of sustainable development and international law's capacity to support its implementation. The book offers a critical analysis of past attempts to develop legal frameworks for promoting sustainable development at the international level, and advocates for a fresh approach based on lessons learnt from the law of international watercourses. The book is divided into four sections. The first section includes an overview of the topic area and an understanding of international law.  In section two the book explores the meaning of sustainable development and considers the term's relationship with international law. A detailed analysis of how the law of international watercourses seeks to reconcile competing economic, social and environmental interests is carried out in section three. The book concludes with a section advocating the need for a fresh approach to international law and sustainable development and offering the foundations for this approach based on lessons learnt from the law of international watercourses.

What are the rules of international water law that govern the use of the transboundary aquifers shared by Palestine and Israel? This book addresses this issue through an interdisciplinary approach, identifying first the special problems tied to the management of shared groundwater, and next critically analysing the applicable rules of international law. The innovative contribution of this work is its attempt to devise and suggest the means to implement a "progressive framework" for cooperation in the development and management of these shared waters. A solid review of hydro-politics, supported by current up to date information and rigorous examination of the evolution of the relevant rules of international law makes this book an important contribution to this very problematic area. Dr Fadia Diabes-Murad was awarded the Edberg Award 2005, presented at a special awards ceremony in Stockholm. The award recognised her contribution to peace in the Middle East through her work on water law, including using water as a catalyst for peace in the Middle East.

Employing an international and comparative analysis of international law as well as the domestic legal regimes of selected jurisdictions, i.e., China, South Africa and South Australia, Water Rights - An International and Comparative Study identifies the essential elements a well-structured water rights system, which ensures that the multiple functions of water resources are reasonably balanced, and the competing water needs are properly taken into consideration, and under which the economic, social and environmental values of water resources co-exist equitably in harmony. This book is the first to discuss water rights holistically, i.e., putting the three aspects of water rights (the property right of water resources, the human right to water and the environmental right to water) into a single, well-organised water rights system under the principle of sustainable development. Following the Introduction, Water Rights has six chapters. Chapter Two develops an analytical approach to be applied in the following four chapters. After the problems concerning water rights in China are identified, the three aspects of water rights both in international law and domestic water laws of South Africa and South Australia are discussed. In Chapter Six, principles and structure that should be employed for designing an ideal water rights system or improving and perfecting an existing one are recommended. With these recommendations, the definitions of water resources and the three aspects of water rights are analysed. Specific amendments to the China Water Law 2002 are proposed. Finally, this work concludes with explanations of the basis for the recommendations presented. This book will be a valuable reference for all those concerned with water rights, including lawyers, hydrologists and water resources managers.