532
from consumptive uses and diversions. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin
Water Resources Compact became State and federal law in 2008 and established the
Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Council. Each of the eight
Great Lakes State legislatures in the USA ratified the Compact and Congress provided its consent for this historic accord. The Compact details how the States will
work together to manage and protect the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin. It
also provides a framework for each State to enact programs and laws protecting
the Basin.
In general, governance of the Great Lakes Basin is characterized by high levels
of institutional capacity and coordination in an industrialized political economy.
While the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River
Basin Water Resources Compact of 2008 create a partially formed architecture for
transboundary management of the waters of the Great Lakes Basin, voluntary, cooperative, and informal relationships may be required to adequately protect the ecosystems and quality of life in the Great Lakes region.
Extensive networks of informal governance organizations compete and collaborate to affect the hydro-ecological systems of the North American Great Lakes.
Nevertheless, legal protections and regulations will be increasingly essential as the
effects of global climate change increase the challenges for all stakeholders.
19.3 The Amazon River Basin of South America
19.3.1 Background
The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and
its tributaries. South America’s Amazon River is the largest river system on Earth in
terms of discharge of water, and much of the basin is facing increasing pressure
from infrastructure development and the resulting collapse of fisheries. With an
average drainage rate of approximately 200,000 m
3
/s, the Amazon is larger than the
next six largest rivers combined, and it is equivalent to approximately 18% of the
world’s river input to the oceans (Richey et al. 1989).
The Amazon River was previously thought to be the second-longest river in the
world, after the Nile in sub-Saharan Africa. The longest upstream extension of the
Amazon River has long been thought to be the source of the Río Apurímac drainage
in the Andes Mountains of southwestern Peru. However, recent research has traced
the origin of the Amazon River to the headwaters of the Mantaro River, which joins
Río Apurímac and other tributaries to form the Ucayali River, which in turn meets
with the Marañón River in Peru as the main tributary of the Amazon. These findings
imply that when the source location is defined as the most distant source of water in
the Amazon basin, the new source extends the length of the Amazon River by about
284 km (176 miles), making it 105 km (65 miles) longer than the Nile. This brings
the total length of the Amazon River to 6800 km (4225 miles) long. The total length
of the Nile River is 6695 km (4160 miles).
R. B. Richardson
from consumptive uses and diversions. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin
Water Resources Compact became State and federal law in 2008 and established the
Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Council. Each of the eight
Great Lakes State legislatures in the USA ratified the Compact and Congress provided its consent for this historic accord. The Compact details how the States will
work together to manage and protect the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin. It
also provides a framework for each State to enact programs and laws protecting
the Basin.
In general, governance of the Great Lakes Basin is characterized by high levels
of institutional capacity and coordination in an industrialized political economy.
While the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River
Basin Water Resources Compact of 2008 create a partially formed architecture for
transboundary management of the waters of the Great Lakes Basin, voluntary, cooperative, and informal relationships may be required to adequately protect the ecosystems and quality of life in the Great Lakes region.
Extensive networks of informal governance organizations compete and collaborate to affect the hydro-ecological systems of the North American Great Lakes.
Nevertheless, legal protections and regulations will be increasingly essential as the
effects of global climate change increase the challenges for all stakeholders.
19.3 The Amazon River Basin of South America
19.3.1 Background
The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and
its tributaries. South America’s Amazon River is the largest river system on Earth in
terms of discharge of water, and much of the basin is facing increasing pressure
from infrastructure development and the resulting collapse of fisheries. With an
average drainage rate of approximately 200,000 m
3
/s, the Amazon is larger than the
next six largest rivers combined, and it is equivalent to approximately 18% of the
world’s river input to the oceans (Richey et al. 1989).
The Amazon River was previously thought to be the second-longest river in the
world, after the Nile in sub-Saharan Africa. The longest upstream extension of the
Amazon River has long been thought to be the source of the Río Apurímac drainage
in the Andes Mountains of southwestern Peru. However, recent research has traced
the origin of the Amazon River to the headwaters of the Mantaro River, which joins
Río Apurímac and other tributaries to form the Ucayali River, which in turn meets
with the Marañón River in Peru as the main tributary of the Amazon. These findings
imply that when the source location is defined as the most distant source of water in
the Amazon basin, the new source extends the length of the Amazon River by about
284 km (176 miles), making it 105 km (65 miles) longer than the Nile. This brings
the total length of the Amazon River to 6800 km (4225 miles) long. The total length
of the Nile River is 6695 km (4160 miles).
R. B. Richardson