Chapter 4
Laws of Transboundary Water
Governance
4.1 The Evolution of International Water Law
International law started to address the problem of transboundary watercourses in
a significant way following the Napoleonic wars when the expansion of commercial navigation on international rivers necessitated, for the first time, some kind of
systematic collaboration among riparian states. As other uses, such as irrigation,
hydropower or industrial consumption were at initial stages of development in the
early nineteenth century, non-navigational activities escaped the attention of international politics and law altogether until relatively recently (Salman 2009).
The first milestone in the evolution of international water law was the recognition
of the principle of freedom of navigation on shared rivers by the Final Act of the
Congress of Vienna in 1815. This principle was reinforced and expanded repeatedly
by various international treaties and was recognised by the Permanent Court of
International Justice in 1929 in the River Oder Case as customary international law.
1
Before World War II non-navigational questions, such water allocation, water
quality or flood defence, were addressed only marginally, despite the fact that
Treaties of Versailles after World War I already dealt explicitly with such issues
as hydropower, irrigation and water supply (Allouche 2005). E.g. the 1921 Convention and Statute on the Regime of Navigable Waterways of International Concern
(Barcelona Convention),
2 adopted under the auspices of the League of Nations,
recognised the non-navigational uses of international rivers, but it did not go in any
length to regulate the matter. Also, the 1923 General Convention Relating to the
1 Case Relating to the Territorial Jurisdiction of the International Commission for the River Oder,
PCIJ, Series A, No. 23, 1929.
2 Convention and Statute on the Regime of Navigable Waterways of International Concern,
Barcelona, 20 April 1921.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
G. Baranyai, European Water Law and Hydropolitics, Water Governance - Concepts,
Methods, and Practice, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22541-4_4
29
Laws of Transboundary Water
Governance
4.1 The Evolution of International Water Law
International law started to address the problem of transboundary watercourses in
a significant way following the Napoleonic wars when the expansion of commercial navigation on international rivers necessitated, for the first time, some kind of
systematic collaboration among riparian states. As other uses, such as irrigation,
hydropower or industrial consumption were at initial stages of development in the
early nineteenth century, non-navigational activities escaped the attention of international politics and law altogether until relatively recently (Salman 2009).
The first milestone in the evolution of international water law was the recognition
of the principle of freedom of navigation on shared rivers by the Final Act of the
Congress of Vienna in 1815. This principle was reinforced and expanded repeatedly
by various international treaties and was recognised by the Permanent Court of
International Justice in 1929 in the River Oder Case as customary international law.
1
Before World War II non-navigational questions, such water allocation, water
quality or flood defence, were addressed only marginally, despite the fact that
Treaties of Versailles after World War I already dealt explicitly with such issues
as hydropower, irrigation and water supply (Allouche 2005). E.g. the 1921 Convention and Statute on the Regime of Navigable Waterways of International Concern
(Barcelona Convention),
2 adopted under the auspices of the League of Nations,
recognised the non-navigational uses of international rivers, but it did not go in any
length to regulate the matter. Also, the 1923 General Convention Relating to the
1 Case Relating to the Territorial Jurisdiction of the International Commission for the River Oder,
PCIJ, Series A, No. 23, 1929.
2 Convention and Statute on the Regime of Navigable Waterways of International Concern,
Barcelona, 20 April 1921.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
G. Baranyai, European Water Law and Hydropolitics, Water Governance - Concepts,
Methods, and Practice, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22541-4_4
29