Third Party Mediation of International River Disputes: Lessons from the Indus River

Zawahri, Neda

doi:10.1163/157180609x432833

Cited by 39 publications

(41 citation statements)

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“…Compared to countries acting alone, they can provide credibility, neutrality, information, financial means and broader perspectives on regional challenges (Wolf et al, 2003;Dombrowsky, 2007;Schmeier, 2013). Cooperation can also be promoted by the presence of donors, who may provide access to financial resources and sometimes also act as facilitators, supporting riparian countries in exploring mutually acceptable solutions (Alam, 1998;Zawahri, 2009;Houdret et al, 2010). Furthermore, power relations between riparian countries can play an important role in fostering or hindering cooperation.…”

Section: Literature On Cooperation and International Benefit Sharing mentioning

confidence: 99%

International and local benefit sharing in hydropower projects on shared rivers: the Ruzizi III and Rusumo Falls cases

Dombrowsky

Bastian²,

Däschle³

et al. 2014

Water Policy

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It has been argued that dam projects on shared rivers may provide opportunities for cooperation and the sharing of benefits among co-riparian states (discourse on international benefit sharing). In parallel, a discourse on local benefit sharing emphasizes that the population affected by dams should benefit from the projects in the long term. This raises the question of how international and local benefit sharing can be combined and whether these concepts are taken up in recent hydropower projects (HPPs) on shared rivers. This question was studied using the cases of the Ruzizi III and Rusumo Falls border river HPPs in Africa's Great Lakes region. The paper finds that the two projects indeed foresee both international and local benefit-sharing mechanisms, even if the actors involved hardly refer to international and local benefit sharing as concepts or link the two. At international level, the infrastructure will be jointly owned and electricity equally shared by the countries involved which can be considered good practice for border river projects. At local level, compensation processes are planned according to World Bank policies and various benefit-sharing mechanisms are envisioned. However, so far no revenue-based benefit sharing is foreseen that would ensure that the project-affected population will benefit in the long term.

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Section: Literature On Cooperation and International Benefit Sharing mentioning

confidence: 99%

International and local benefit sharing in hydropower projects on shared rivers: the Ruzizi III and Rusumo Falls cases

Dombrowsky

Bastian²,

Däschle³

et al. 2014

Water Policy

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“…Disputes are managed primarily through regular meetings of the engineers and officials that make up the two national sections of the commission (Zawahri, 2009b). Monitoring development projects in the Indus river system by PIC has eased fears of cheating between India and Pakistan (including the confirmation of accuracy of all exchanged data) and helped promote compliance with the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (Zawahri, 2009a).…”

Section: International Collaborationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Indus basin in the framework of current and future water resources management

Laghari

Vanham

Rauch

2012

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

191

112

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Abstract. The Indus basin is one of the regions in the world that is faced with major challenges for its water sector, due to population growth, rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, environmental degradation, unregulated utilization of the resources, inefficient water use and poverty, all aggravated by climate change. The Indus Basin is shared by 4 countriesPakistan, India, Afghanistan and China. With a current population of 237 million people which is projected to increase to 319 million in 2025 and 383 million in 2050, already today water resources are abstracted almost entirely (more than 95 % for irrigation). Climate change will result in increased water availability in the short term. However in the long term water availability will decrease. Some current aspects in the basin need to be re-evaluated. During the past decades water abstractions -and especially groundwater extractionshave augmented continuously to support a rice-wheat system where rice is grown during the kharif (wet, summer) season (as well as sugar cane, cotton, maize and other crops) and wheat during the rabi (dry, winter) season. However, the sustainability of this system in its current form is questionable. Additional water for domestic and industrial purposes is required for the future and should be made available by a reduction in irrigation requirements. This paper gives a comprehensive listing and description of available options for current and future sustainable water resources management (WRM) within the basin. Sustainable WRM practices include both water supply management and water demand management options. Water supply management options include: (1) reservoir management as the basin is characterised by a strong seasonal behaviour in water availability (monsoon and meltwater) and water demands; (2) water quality conservation and investment in wastewater infrastructure; (3) the use of alternative water resources like the recycling of wastewater and desalination; (4) land use planning and soil conservation as well as flood management, with a focus on the reduction of erosion and resulting sedimentation as well as the restoration of ecosystem services like wetlands and natural floodplains. Water demand management options include: (1) the management of conjunctive use of surface and groundwater; as well as (2) the rehabilitation and modernization of existing infrastructure. Other demand management options are: (3) the increase of water productivity for agriculture; (4) crop planning and diversification including the critical assessment of agricultural export, especially (basmati) rice; (5) economic instruments and (6) changing food demand patterns and limiting post-harvest losses.

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“…An understanding on water sharing between the two new countries was clearly necessary. The 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) brokered by the World Bank split six shared rivers three a-piece between the two countries rather than water flows in individual tributaries (Wirsing 2008;Zawahri 2009). The three western rivers (the Jhelum, the Chenab and the Indus itself) were allocated to Pakistan, and the three eastern rivers (the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej) were allocated to India.…”

Section: Indusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pursuits of adaptiveness in the shared rivers of Monsoon Asia

Lebel

Bastakoti

et al. 2010

Int Environ Agreements

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How water should be managed in Monsoon Asia is emerging as one of the core earth system governance challenges. In this article, we explore the politics around pursuits of adaptiveness in water management, emphasizing the major transboundary river basins draining the south and eastern Himalayas. We look at two main functions: storing, diverting and sharing water for periods of scarcity; protecting people and places from destructive floods. We find that the pursuit of adaptiveness will take place partly outside the range of human experience in a context of large differences in exposure and vulnerabilities, disparate interests and unequal power. Anticipatory policies and actions to adapt and improve adaptive capacity to the transboundary impacts of changes in water-use, landuse and climate on water resources and services are still in their infancy; but several problem-framing discourses are emerging that have longer-term implications for water governance. It is not yet clear how these competing policy-frames will evolve in Asia. Much will depend on how systems of water governance develop. Public scrutiny of how governments in Asia plan to adapt to climate change in the water sector-on how risks of not enough and too much water are dealt with-will need to continue to help sort out those projects and strategies which are driven primarily by political benefits from those which actually contribute to building adaptive capacities and maintaining social-ecological resilience.

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Third Party Mediation of International River Disputes: Lessons from the Indus River

Cited by 39 publications

References 0 publications

International and local benefit sharing in hydropower projects on shared rivers: the Ruzizi III and Rusumo Falls cases

International and local benefit sharing in hydropower projects on shared rivers: the Ruzizi III and Rusumo Falls cases

The Indus basin in the framework of current and future water resources management

Pursuits of adaptiveness in the shared rivers of Monsoon Asia

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