International river basins

This article analyzes key factors affecting transboundary water cooperation in the Brahmaputra River basin at multiple scales. The analysis of multi-track diplomacy reaffirms the potential of actor-inclusive approaches, arguing for a need to go beyond purely focusing on formal legal norms and consider the possibilities of cultural norms of informal processes of cooperation. Various ‘windows of opportunity’ exist in the current phase of the Brahmaputra basin’s development, leading to exploration of a Zone of Possible Effective Cooperation, arising from the effort to scale up multi-track initiatives as well as broader geopolitical​- economic changes happening across and beyond the basin.

The author argues in this paper that, in spite of the past performance and the lack of a permanent agreement among the riparians of the Euphrates-Tigris System, there is hope and reason for optimism for a mutually beneficial framework.
The paper starts with a brief historical account of riparian relations in the Euphrates-Tigris Basin and the efforts by external parties to mediate. The difficulties encountered are categorized in a broader perspective in the bilateral and multilateral relations of the riparian countries. Existing setting and recent developments are explained and potential modalities are elaborated. The paper concludes by describing a new, unofficial initiative of riparian scholars and professionals emphasizing the value of civil society involvement in the process.
Official mechanisms, or Track 1 avenue, include early talks among the riparians that eventually led to the establishment of a Joint Technical Committee to discuss the issues regarding the flows in this river system. This Committee held 16 meetings until the First Gulf War and has not met since then. Although Track 1 efforts did not produce a permanent solution to the issue, they provided a channel for communication and offered a basis when the political climate would be opportune.
The ‘hydronationality’ in the riparian countries that can be ignited over relatively insignificant events also played a negative role.
The interdependence of water issues to broader problem areas and the failure to either resolve the latter or isolate the former delayed the discussion of alternatives with a potential of mutually acceptability. A lack of contact on water related issues ‘froze’ the positions of the parties and prevented new paradigms from being agenda items for consideration. These include benefit-sharing arrangements and cooperation around mutually acceptable broader frameworks, such as regional social and economic development.
In spite of an unfavorable setting for cooperation, the riparians of the Euphrates-Tigris System have managed to stay away from violent conflict over water and have kept one another relatively informed.
The current conjuncture in the region also presents opportunities that can work for a renewed and improved dialogue over water and water related issues.
The author argues that once the ‘zero-sum’ nature of the current framework is properly recognized, Track 1 avenue could progress more smoothly than it has in the past. Both regional development at large, and benefits from water can be uniting as all of the riparian countries do need social and economic development which can bring about synergy, economies of scale, and external financing if and when planned, implemented and managed in a cooperative or joint manner.
Track 2 initiatives and other developments can substantially help enhance mutual understanding and dialogue, as well as help riparians see the broader picture and multi-faceted benefits that do not correspond to the zero-sum nature of water-sharing. These can potentially benefit from the recent progress in Turkish-Syrian relations and the developments in Iraq and the imminent return of Iraq to the international community as a fully functioning state.
The objective, program, and the activities of a recently established riparian Track 2 initiative, ETIC, or the Euphrates-Tigris Initiative for Cooperation, of which the author is a founder, are described in the final section. The initiative is unlike other, earlier unofficial initiatives in that it comes from inside the basin, does not focus on water, and is not prescriptive. It has, in its first year of existence, already catalyzed tri-lateral gatherings of unofficial nature, conducted multi-riparian training programs, and established linkages in the riparian countries of the basin. ETIC has benefited from partnership with UNESCO and cooperation protocols are pending with international and U.N. organizations.

136 LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY OF BILATERAL RIVER AGREEMENTS by Ashok Swain Water tables are falling increasingly on every continent. Many developing countries in Asia and Africa already face serious problems in meeting rapidly increasing water demands. In order to meet such demands, further pressure is being placed on the water resources, and this over-exploitation is resulting in acute shortages.

Монография посвящена проблемам рационального использования и охраны водных ресурсов бассейна самой южной реки Дагестана и России – р. Самур. Рассматриваются наиболее характерные тенденции социально-экономического и экологического развития бассейна и зоны водохозяйственного влияния этой реки. С учетом выявленных проблем и тенденций определяется комплекс мер по совершенствованию водохозяйственной деятельности в Южном Дагестане.

International basins are divided into sub-basins that can be managed at the international, national and local levels, separately or together. Regarding the international level, many actors, beyond the States, participate in water management. This work is a case study on the Columbia River Basin (CRB), which is shared by the United States and Canada and its waters drain off into the Pacific Ocean. There are two theoretical foundations: multi-level governance and integrated water resources management (IWRM). Then, this work will demonstrate the impossibility of implementing IWRM in the CRB, even though there is multi-level governance within it, which allows cooperation between the United States and Canada, avoiding the risk of conflict in this basin.

BA Honours Thesis for Politics Department, Bates College, 2012. Abstract: In 1947 India and Pakistan, sworn enemies on all fronts, managed to settle a water dispute on the Indus Basin eventually signing one of the most successful treaties that have since existed on the water front. I investigate this puzzle of cooperation in my thesis. Ultimately I show that the Indus Waters Treaty succeeded due to the intervention of an epistemic community which managed to depoliticize the dispute and establish an equitable treaty between the two sides. Without the contribution of the epistemic community the outcome of cooperation would most likely have been unsuccessful. I specify also that the initial impetus for cooperation came in the form of an international idea on dam construction which “convinced” India and (epiphenomenally) Pakistan that the dispute on the Indus needed to be resolved urgently and cooperatively.This is only part of the explanation however; the research conducted in this thesis leads to the conclusion that the distribution of bargaining capabilities between the signatories played a central role in determining the empowerment of the epistemic community, which then intervened to ensure a successful outcome of cooperation.

This chapter examines the international and domestic costs of noncooperation among and within the countries comprising the Indus basin. Its focus is on all four of the co-riparian basin states, but India and Pakistan receive special attention due to their prominent position in the basin’s water use and management. Besides the international costs, including intensification of traditional enmities, heightened distrust, persistence of territorial disputes, terrorism, and weakening of regional norms of cooperation, this chapter also examines the way in which noncooperation in regard to water resources plays an instrumental role in creating and aggravating the interprovincial and interethnic divisions within basin countries. The bilateral and internal mistrust and suspicions in the basin have restricted the ability of riparian countries to develop critical water development projects like Tulbul Navigation project/Wullar Barrage, Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal, and Kalabagh Dam to make best possible use of available water resources, and this in turn has impacted negatively on the social and economic development of these countries.