Transboundary Rivers Essay ⋆ Environment Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Transboundary Rivers are natural freshwater systems with at least one perennial tributary crossing the political boundaries of two or more states. Also known as international rivers, the 1978 United Nations (UN) Register of International Rivers, updated in 1999, classifies them. According to this update, there are 261 transboundary rivers, which cover 45.3 percent of the earth’s surface, excluding Antarctica. A transboundary river basin includes both surface water and groundwater, which contribute hydrologically to a first-order stream before finding an outlet to an ocean, a lake, or an inland sea.

As an important source of freshwater, transboundary rivers are a major environmental concern for the 21st century. This concern is not only related to the land surface included in these basins, but also to the flow generated within these basins: 87 percent of the flow of 25 of the world’s largest rivers, representing almost half of the world’s total runoff, is generated within transboundary river basins. Additionally, 145 nations, as small as Liechtenstein and as populous as Bangladesh, have territory within such basins.

Rivers have been historically important in determining geopolitical borders, an example is the Danube, which formed the border of the Roman Empire and now forms the boundary between Romania and Bulgaria. Rivers have also served multiple purposes, from providing drinking water, irrigation, hydroelectric power generation, and industrial uses. However, management of transboundary rivers has often proven complicated due to disagreements about river flows, each nation’s contribution to that flow, historic uses, and future demand. Such disagreements also focus on the social, ecological, and economic needs of each nation. To visualize dilemmas of management and allocation of water resources in transboundary river basins, one can look at the number of countries which share a transboundary river basin: 19 of 261 basins are shared by five or more riparian countries. A total of 17 riparian countries share the Danube basin, whereas 11 share the Congo and Niger.

Such complexities, combined with increasing water stress due to increases in population, economic growth, and reductions in the quality and quantity of world’s freshwater resources, have caused some studies to focus on the danger of violence and wars in the transboundary river basins. Although there has not been an incident of such violence in recent history, these environmental security studies link environmental degradation and scarcity to armed conflict.

Such studies do not usually focus on environmental problems in transboundary basins as the main factor leading to insecurity. Instead, they take environmental degradation, such as pollution, or scarcity as an accessory factory of insecurity. From this perspective, a negative change in the quality and quantity of the renewable, nonsubstitutable resources is but one factor leading to conflict. Environmental change acts as a variable of conflict, exacerbating fault lines between state and society and worsening existing political, economic, and social tensions. For example, studies have envisioned water-war scenarios in the Middle East due to tensions in transboundary rivers, such the Jordan River, which is shared by Jordan, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Authority. Water diversion plans by riparian states have been interpreted as aggravating tensions related to the region’s aridity, population pressure, and political situation.

Other studies emphasize the possibility of transboundary cooperation based on historic evidence. For example, the Mekong Committee, established over the Mekong by Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam in 1957, continued to exchange data over river basin management throughout the Vietnam War. The Mekong, the seventh largest river in the world in terms of discharge and the 10th in length, is shared by six riparian nations (the Mekong Committee members, Myanmar, and Laos). Various international organizations, including UN institutions and the Global Environmental Facility, have supported the Mekong Committee in promoting sustainable management of the basin. The Mekong Committee has become a useful model for governance of transboundary rivers by providing an international and institutional framework for cooperation prior to the outbreak of a water crisis in the transboundary river basin. Recent studies have focused on river management and allocation of water resources by comparing different transboundary river basins in various disciplines, such as international relations, international law, geography, and environmental studies.

Nations and international organizations have formulated international conventions and established joint management committees to reduce the risk of water-related conflicts and ensure quality and quantity of river flow. Transboundary river management has evolved from the Harmon Doctrine, stating absolute sovereignty over the waters of a transboundary watercourse within the state’s territory, to the doctrine of equitable utilization.

The latter doctrine has been applied since the International Law Association’s 1966 Helsinki Rules. The UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses also adopted the equitable utilization principle in 1997, which emphasized the prevention of significant harm and prior notification of planned measures related to the river basin. The convention has not been ratified by the 35 nation states necessary for it to enter into force. Although 103 countries have adopted the convention on a preliminary basis, these principles offer only general guidance and are not mandatory to riparian states.

In addition to the efforts of the international community, bilateral treaties have proven an effective mechanism in transboundary river management. Treaties such as the 1944 Colorado Treaty between the United States and Mexico, and the 1959 Nile River Treaty between Egypt and Sudan regulate the allocation of water for both the upstream and the downstream nations. Similarly, commissions among riparian nations also enable the transparent exchange of data over future development plans, and provide a forum for continuous dialogues. For example, the Indus River Commission has continued to function despite two major wars between India and Pakistan. Such mechanisms enable states to overcome differences in legislation, economic and policy goals, administrative structures, and social and cultural perceptions.

Many transboundary rivers have been dammed or diverted for irrigation, hydroelectric power production, or similar purposes. Such projects come with ecological and social costs. Before the building of the Aswan Dam, the Nile River carried over 120 million tons of sediment to the Mediterranean Sea each year and nearly 10 million tones of this was deposited in the floodplain and Nile Delta. After the construction of the dam, almost all the sediment has remained behind the dam. This caused not only coastal erosion, but also serious reduction in agricultural productivity in the Nile Delta. Moreover, 100,000 people had to be resettled from 1963 to 1969. Dam construction itself may create temporary jobs and generate income for local people. However, loss of lands and livelihoods (such as loss of fisheries after dam construction) raises questions about the social costs of water development projects. Moreover, tensions between states may increase during the filling of a reservoir when the downstream flow is cut off temporarily, especially when there is no prior notification, agreement, or institutional arrangement regarding the flow of the river.

Although the precise nature of related ecological changes is still unclear, global warming is likely to affect the availability of freshwater resources and disrupt the global supply and demand of water and arable land. Increased productivity of water use, stronger policies to regulate the use of water within territories, and the establishment of constructive dialogue among riparian states can help to sustain transboundary river cooperation. The maintenance of such cooperation is crucial in ensuring water and food security, political stability, and the protection of biodiversity.

Bibliography:

Stephen C. McCaffrey, The Law of International Watercourses: Non-Navigational Uses (Oxford University Press, 2001);
Sandra Postel and Brian Richter, Rivers for Life: Managing Water for People and Nature (Island Press, 2003);
T. Wolf, ed., Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Water Systems, vol. 5 in Management of Water Resources (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2002).