One step at a time: international law and the duty to cooperate in the management of shared water resources

Leb, Christina

doi:10.1080/02508060.2014.978972

Cited by 24 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 8 publications

(6 reference statements)

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“…Cooperation is a step-by-step process that starts, for example, with the regular meetings of a joint committee and develops towards the in-depth nexus approach with intersectoral working and expert groups and public hearings. The essential building blocks of the cooperation are reciprocity and good faith between States as well as mutual benefits [27,30]. The nexus approach to the transboundary watercourses cooperation requires that riparian States perceive that the cooperation is in their common interests in the long term.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The principle of cooperation is one of the main features in international water law [29,30]. In the UN Watercourses Convention, it is stated that watercourse States shall cooperate on the basis of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, mutual benefit and good faith in order to attain optimal utilisation and adequate protection of an international watercourse (Art.…”

Section: Principle Of Cooperationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Water-Energy-Food Nexus within the Framework of International Water Law

Belinskij

2015

Water

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International water law, which regulates the uses of international watercourses that are situated partly in different States, is a highly topical sector of law. In 2014, two conventions covering the subject matter entered into force globally. At the same time, a water-food-energy nexus has become part and parcel of the development canon that emphasises the importance of the complex relationship between water, energy and food. In this article, it is discussed whether international water law supports the water-food-energy nexus approach, which aims to reconcile the different water uses in international basins. The analysis also covers the human rights to water and food from the nexus viewpoint. The legal regime of the Mekong River is used as an example of the possibilities and challenges of the nexus approach in international water law. It is concluded that despite its deficiencies international water law provides a very useful platform for the cooperation between States and different sectors that aim at guaranteeing water, food and energy security.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Principle Of Cooperationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water-Energy-Food Nexus within the Framework of International Water Law

Belinskij

2015

Water

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“…Therefore, there is a consensus that cooperative water resources planning and management in a trans-boundary river basin can provide opportunities to increase water benefits [4][5][6][7][8]. Phillips et al [4] suggested a policy context for shared responsibility and an institutional framework for analyzing shared benefits resulting from the corporation between countries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Dam Inflow Variation Using the Hydrological Sensitivity Method in a Trans-Boundary River Basin: Case Study in the Korean Peninsula

Kim

2019

Water

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Water resource planning in a trans-boundary river basin is complex because of different institutional and scientific concerns and it may become increasingly difficult as a consequence of water scarcity caused by climate change. The analysis of discharge variations in a trans-boundary river basin is very important because the results can be key to resolve complex problems including decreased hydropower generation, degraded water quality, and deficient water supplies. Despite its importance, there are relatively few studies dealing with hydrological variation in a trans-boundary river basin. Therefore, this study used the hydrological sensitivity method to identify the discharge variation in the Hwacheon dam upper basin, a representative trans-boundary river basin between South Korea and North Korea. This particular basin was selected because the inflow into the Hwacheon dam in South Korea has decreased significantly after the construction of the Imnam dam in North Korea in 2000. The hydrological sensitivity method is a simple approach to analyze variations in discharge. After collecting 51 years (1967–2017) of rainfall and inflow data, a change point that represents an abrupt change in the time series was detected by using moving average, double-mass curve analysis, Pettitt’s test, and Bayesian change-point analysis. The change point detected by these methods was 1999. The hydrological sensitivity method using five Budyko-based functions was applied to a time series divided into before and after the detected change point. The average decrease after 1999 was 464.91 mm/y (or 1899 × 106 m3/y). Also, the maximum and minimum decreases after 1999 were 515.24 mm/y (or 2105 × 106 m3/y) and 435.32 mm/y (or 1778 × 106 m3/y), respectively. Because of the increase in rainfall and the decrease in inflow since 2000, the values determined in this study are slightly larger than those from conventional studies. Finally, it is suggested that the results from this study can be used effectively to establish reasonable water resource planning in the trans-boundary river basin between South Korea and North Korea.

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“…This is particularly evident in the case of transboundary river basins in which unidirectional, negative externalities, caused by the upstream regulation of the natural flow, often place some parties at a disadvantage and result in asymmetric relationships that add to the challenge of coordinating resource use (van der Zaag, 2007). There is a consensus among water professionals that the cooperative management of shared river basins should provide opportunities to increase the scope and scale of benefits (Phillips et al, 2006;Grey and Sadoff, 2007;Leb, 2015), stepping beyond the volumetric allocation of water that reduces negotiations between riparians to a zero-sum game. In their seminal paper, Sadoff and Grey (2002) discussed the types of benefits that river basins can provide, assuming cooperation: benefits to the river can result from sustainable cooperative management of the ecosystem; efficient, cooperative management and development of river flow can yield benefits from the river in the form of increased water quality, quantity and productivity; policy shifts away from riparian disputes/conflicts toward cooperative development can reduce costs of noncooperation arising because of the river; and cooperation be-D. Arjoon et al: Benefit sharing tween riparian states can lead to economic, political and institutional integration, resulting in benefits beyond the river.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sharing water and benefits in transboundary river basins

Arjoon

Tilmant

Herrmann

2016

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The equitable sharing of benefits in transboundary river basins is necessary to solve disputes among riparian countries and to reach a consensus on basin-wide development and management activities. Benefit-sharing arrangements must be collaboratively developed to be perceived not only as efficient, but also as equitable in order to be considered acceptable to all riparian countries. The current literature mainly describes what is meant by the term benefit sharing in the context of transboundary river basins and discusses this from a conceptual point of view, but falls short of providing practical, institutional arrangements that ensure maximum economic welfare as well as collaboratively developed methods for encouraging the equitable sharing of benefits. In this study, we define an institutional arrangement that distributes welfare in a river basin by maximizing the economic benefits of water use and then sharing these benefits in an equitable manner using a method developed through stakeholder involvement. We describe a methodology in which (i) a hydrological model is used to allocate scarce water resources, in an economically efficient manner, to water users in a transboundary basin, (ii) water users are obliged to pay for water, and (iii) the total of these water charges is equitably redistributed as monetary compensation to users in an amount determined through the application of a sharing method developed by stakeholder input, thus based on a stakeholder vision of fairness, using an axiomatic approach. With the proposed benefit-sharing mechanism, the efficiency-equity trade-off still exists, but the extent of the imbalance is reduced because benefits are maximized and redistributed according to a key that has been collectively agreed upon by the participants. The whole system is overseen by a river basin authority. The methodology is applied to the Eastern Nile River basin as a case study. The described technique not only ensures economic efficiency, but may also lead to more equitable solutions in the sharing of benefits in transboundary river basins because the definition of the sharing rule is not in question, as would be the case if existing methods, such as game theory, were applied, with their inherent definitions of fairness.

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One step at a time: international law and the duty to cooperate in the management of shared water resources

Cited by 24 publications

References 8 publications

Water-Energy-Food Nexus within the Framework of International Water Law

Water-Energy-Food Nexus within the Framework of International Water Law

Analysis of Dam Inflow Variation Using the Hydrological Sensitivity Method in a Trans-Boundary River Basin: Case Study in the Korean Peninsula

Sharing water and benefits in transboundary river basins

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