Book Description

The management of water resources across boundaries, whether sub-national or international, is one of the most difficult challenges facing water managers today. The upstream exploitation or diversion of groundwater or rivers can have devastating consequences for those living downstream, and transboundary rivers can provide a source of conflict between nations or states, particularly where water resources are scarce. Similarly, water based-pollution can spread across borders and create disputes and a need for sound governance.1. Introduction: Setting the Scene for Transboundary Water Management Approaches2. Why Negotiate? Asymmetric endowments and asymmetric power and the invisible nexus of water, trade and power that brings apparent water security3. Power, Hegemony and Critical Hydropolitics4. Getting Beyond the Environment-Conflict Trap: Benefit-Sharing in International River Basins5. International Water Law: concepts, evolution and development6. Aquifer Resources in a Transboundary Context: A Hidden Resource? - Enabling the Practitioner To 'See It and Bank It' for Good Use7. Governance in Transboundary Basins - the Role of Stakeholders, Concepts and Approaches in International River Basins8. Environmental Flows in Shared Watercourses: Review of Assessment Methods and Relevance in the Transboundary Setting9. Managing Water Negotiations and Conflicts in Concept and in PracticeContributorsIndexPart I: Analytical Approaches to Transboundary Water ManagementPart II: Transboundary Water Management Polity and PracticePart III: Challenges and OpportunitiesThis book is the first to bring together in a concise and accessible way all of the main topics to be considered when managing transboundary waters. It will raise the awareness of practitioners of the various issues needed to be taken into account when making water management decisions and provide a practically-based overview for advanced students. The authors show clearly how vital it is to cooperate effectively over the management of shared waters to unlock their contribution to regional sustainable development. The book is largely based on a long-running and tested international training programme, run by the Stockholm International Water Institute and Ramboll Natura, and supported by the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (Sida), where the respective authors have presented modules on the programmes. It addresses issues not only of conflict, but also of managing power asymmetries, benefit-sharing, stakeholder participation, international water law, environmental water requirements and regional development. It will be particularly useful for those with a background in hydrology or engineering who wish to broaden their management skills.