38
4 Laws of Transboundary Water Governance
Shared Water Resources in Central Africa.
17 This new Convention is strongly rooted
in the UNECE Water Convention and the UN Watercourses Convention. It lays down
the governing principles of co-riparian relations such as the equitable and reasonable
use of shared resources, the prevention of transboundary impact, transboundary and
regional cooperation, the development of basin agreements and the establishment of
transboundary basin organizations or the integrated management of transboundary
water resources.
18 Finally, highly developed basin-regimes have been put in place
other parts of Africa too, such as the Senegal, the Niger or the Chad catchment areas.
Significant challenges remain, however, all over the continent, but most particularly
in the Nile basin where there is a fundamental tension among the basin states over
historic water allocation rights, accentuated by divergent developmental needs and
policies of upstream and downstream riparians (De Stefano et al. 2012).
In North America the treaty frameworks addressing transboundary waters between
the United States and Canada, on the one hand, and the United States and Mexico, on
the other, were developed over a century ago (Neir et al. 2009). Not surprisingly, North
America does not have a continent-wide transboundary water treaty or organisation
(even though both the US and Canada are members of the UN Economic Commission
for Europe, thus could have become a party to the UNECE Water Convention even
before its global opening, see Sect. 8.2.2). Instead, the institutional backbone of the
North American transboundary water cooperation is comprised by two bi-national
water commissions and a series of treaties adopted since the late 19th century. The
US-Canada International Joint Commission was established by the 1909 Boundary
Waters Treaty.
19 The Treaty’s geographical scope extends to all waters that flow
across or along the US-Canadian international border. It applies to all infrastructure
developments, diversions and other alterations affecting the other riparian. The Treaty
also places restrictions on transboundary water pollution through the stipulation of an
early version of the “no-harm” principle. Naturally, the original 1909 Treaty does not
address a number of topical issues of our era such as the ecological status of waters
or groundwater management. The two countries also singed a range of additional
bilateral treaties addressing transboundary water management in specific basins such
as the Great Lakes, the Niagara River, Columbia River, Skagit River, St. Lawrence
River, etc. (Neir et al. 2009). The legal and institutional foundations of US-Mexico
cross border water cooperation also go back to the late 19th century. In 1889 the
International Boundary Commission was created to handle specifically border and
water issues (it was changed to International Boundary and Water Commission in
1944). Given the predominantly arid conditions of the border region, allocation issues
17 Convention for the Prevention of Conflicts Related to the Management of Shared Water Resources
in Central Africa, Brazzaville, 22 December 2018.
18 https://www.unece.org/info/media/presscurrent-press-h/environment/2017/central-africancountries-approve-regional-convention-on-transboundary-water-cooperation-with-unece-support/
doc.html (accessed 12 February 2019). Contracting parties include Angola, Burundi, Cameroon,
Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon,
Republic of Congo, Rwanda and São Tomé and Príncipe.
19 Treaty between the United States and Great Britain relating to Boundary Waters, and Questions
Arising between the United States and Canada, Washington, 11 January 1909.
4 Laws of Transboundary Water Governance
Shared Water Resources in Central Africa.
17 This new Convention is strongly rooted
in the UNECE Water Convention and the UN Watercourses Convention. It lays down
the governing principles of co-riparian relations such as the equitable and reasonable
use of shared resources, the prevention of transboundary impact, transboundary and
regional cooperation, the development of basin agreements and the establishment of
transboundary basin organizations or the integrated management of transboundary
water resources.
18 Finally, highly developed basin-regimes have been put in place
other parts of Africa too, such as the Senegal, the Niger or the Chad catchment areas.
Significant challenges remain, however, all over the continent, but most particularly
in the Nile basin where there is a fundamental tension among the basin states over
historic water allocation rights, accentuated by divergent developmental needs and
policies of upstream and downstream riparians (De Stefano et al. 2012).
In North America the treaty frameworks addressing transboundary waters between
the United States and Canada, on the one hand, and the United States and Mexico, on
the other, were developed over a century ago (Neir et al. 2009). Not surprisingly, North
America does not have a continent-wide transboundary water treaty or organisation
(even though both the US and Canada are members of the UN Economic Commission
for Europe, thus could have become a party to the UNECE Water Convention even
before its global opening, see Sect. 8.2.2). Instead, the institutional backbone of the
North American transboundary water cooperation is comprised by two bi-national
water commissions and a series of treaties adopted since the late 19th century. The
US-Canada International Joint Commission was established by the 1909 Boundary
Waters Treaty.
19 The Treaty’s geographical scope extends to all waters that flow
across or along the US-Canadian international border. It applies to all infrastructure
developments, diversions and other alterations affecting the other riparian. The Treaty
also places restrictions on transboundary water pollution through the stipulation of an
early version of the “no-harm” principle. Naturally, the original 1909 Treaty does not
address a number of topical issues of our era such as the ecological status of waters
or groundwater management. The two countries also singed a range of additional
bilateral treaties addressing transboundary water management in specific basins such
as the Great Lakes, the Niagara River, Columbia River, Skagit River, St. Lawrence
River, etc. (Neir et al. 2009). The legal and institutional foundations of US-Mexico
cross border water cooperation also go back to the late 19th century. In 1889 the
International Boundary Commission was created to handle specifically border and
water issues (it was changed to International Boundary and Water Commission in
1944). Given the predominantly arid conditions of the border region, allocation issues
17 Convention for the Prevention of Conflicts Related to the Management of Shared Water Resources
in Central Africa, Brazzaville, 22 December 2018.
18 https://www.unece.org/info/media/presscurrent-press-h/environment/2017/central-africancountries-approve-regional-convention-on-transboundary-water-cooperation-with-unece-support/
doc.html (accessed 12 February 2019). Contracting parties include Angola, Burundi, Cameroon,
Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon,
Republic of Congo, Rwanda and São Tomé and Príncipe.
19 Treaty between the United States and Great Britain relating to Boundary Waters, and Questions
Arising between the United States and Canada, Washington, 11 January 1909.