40
4 Laws of Transboundary Water Governance
adoption, in 1960, of the Indus Waters Treaty
24 between two counties and the World
Bank. While the Treaty has withstood the test of difficult times, its relatively rigid
structure and narrow scope has already become a core concern in the region (Kumar
2010). There are, however, more promising examples of cooperation in the Southeast Asia region. This includes the collaboration among the riparian states of the
lower Mekong, the longest river of the region, which dates back to the 1950s. Such
cooperation, however, remains ineffective with regards to many basin-wide issues
as upstream China stays outside all relevant formal arrangements. Today, the framework of collaboration in the lower Mekong Region is defined by the 1995 Agreement
on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin
25
signed by Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam (Kanwar et al. 2009).
Many of the international rivers of West Asia (Middle East), such as the Tigris,
Euphrates, Jordan, suffer not only from severe human and climatic pressures. Cooperation is also hampered by the general political instability prevailing in the region.
Not surprisingly, the management of the largest water system in the region: TigrisEuphrates/Shatt Al-Arab has been the subject of continuous uncertainty and disagreement (Klise et al. 2009). The lack of a basin agreement here is largely the
result of upstream Turkey’s unilateral water development policies that reflects the
country’s projection of the outdated doctrine of absolute territorial sovereignty over
shared water resources (Newton 2014).
While inter-state disputes over water tend to reach high political intensity in the
Central Asian region too, the countries concerned also benefit from the UNECE
Water Convention and the various international development programmes aimed at
stabilising the hydro-political situation through cooperation (UNECE 2011). Unlike
many other Asian regions, Central Asia does have an established legal framework
for transboundary water cooperation. This comprises, on the one hand, the various
bilateral and multilateral agreements relating to the Interstate Commission for Water
Coordination of Central Asia
26 and, on the other, the 1999 Agreement on the status
of the International Fund for saving the Aral Sea and its organisations.
27 Importantly, a comprehensive multilateral transboundary water governance treaty was also
adopted in 1998 under the auspices of the Commonwealth of Independent States
entitled Agreement on the General Principles of the Rational Use and Protection
of Transboundary Water Bodies of the State Members of the Commonwealth of
Independent States.
28 The Agreement—which largely follows the provisions of the
UNECE Water Convention—entered into force in 2002. As, however, only Russia,
Belarus and Kyrgyzstan ratified it, the real significance of this instrument has hitherto
remained minimal in Central Asia (Vinogradov 2007).
24 Indus Waters Treaty, Karachi, 19 September 1960.
25 Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin,
Chieng Rai, 5 April 1995.
26 http://www.icwc-aral.uz/legal_framework.htm (accessed 12 February 2019).
27 Agreement on the status of the International Fund for saving the Aral Sea and its organisations,
Ashgabat, 9 April 1999.
28 Agreement on the General Principles of the Rational Use and Protection of Transboundary Water
Bodies of the State Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Moscow, 11 September
1998.
4 Laws of Transboundary Water Governance
adoption, in 1960, of the Indus Waters Treaty
24 between two counties and the World
Bank. While the Treaty has withstood the test of difficult times, its relatively rigid
structure and narrow scope has already become a core concern in the region (Kumar
2010). There are, however, more promising examples of cooperation in the Southeast Asia region. This includes the collaboration among the riparian states of the
lower Mekong, the longest river of the region, which dates back to the 1950s. Such
cooperation, however, remains ineffective with regards to many basin-wide issues
as upstream China stays outside all relevant formal arrangements. Today, the framework of collaboration in the lower Mekong Region is defined by the 1995 Agreement
on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin
25
signed by Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam (Kanwar et al. 2009).
Many of the international rivers of West Asia (Middle East), such as the Tigris,
Euphrates, Jordan, suffer not only from severe human and climatic pressures. Cooperation is also hampered by the general political instability prevailing in the region.
Not surprisingly, the management of the largest water system in the region: TigrisEuphrates/Shatt Al-Arab has been the subject of continuous uncertainty and disagreement (Klise et al. 2009). The lack of a basin agreement here is largely the
result of upstream Turkey’s unilateral water development policies that reflects the
country’s projection of the outdated doctrine of absolute territorial sovereignty over
shared water resources (Newton 2014).
While inter-state disputes over water tend to reach high political intensity in the
Central Asian region too, the countries concerned also benefit from the UNECE
Water Convention and the various international development programmes aimed at
stabilising the hydro-political situation through cooperation (UNECE 2011). Unlike
many other Asian regions, Central Asia does have an established legal framework
for transboundary water cooperation. This comprises, on the one hand, the various
bilateral and multilateral agreements relating to the Interstate Commission for Water
Coordination of Central Asia
26 and, on the other, the 1999 Agreement on the status
of the International Fund for saving the Aral Sea and its organisations.
27 Importantly, a comprehensive multilateral transboundary water governance treaty was also
adopted in 1998 under the auspices of the Commonwealth of Independent States
entitled Agreement on the General Principles of the Rational Use and Protection
of Transboundary Water Bodies of the State Members of the Commonwealth of
Independent States.
28 The Agreement—which largely follows the provisions of the
UNECE Water Convention—entered into force in 2002. As, however, only Russia,
Belarus and Kyrgyzstan ratified it, the real significance of this instrument has hitherto
remained minimal in Central Asia (Vinogradov 2007).
24 Indus Waters Treaty, Karachi, 19 September 1960.
25 Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin,
Chieng Rai, 5 April 1995.
26 http://www.icwc-aral.uz/legal_framework.htm (accessed 12 February 2019).
27 Agreement on the status of the International Fund for saving the Aral Sea and its organisations,
Ashgabat, 9 April 1999.
28 Agreement on the General Principles of the Rational Use and Protection of Transboundary Water
Bodies of the State Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Moscow, 11 September
1998.