41
• MWEPs potentially have effects on both water quality and water quantity.
Criteria of water quality and quantity may be directly linked to each other, especially
when we look at the usage of surface water: While, on the one hand, quantitative aspects
can be solved by an improved management of quality, intelligent management of water
amounts can, on the other hand, have positive impacts on water quality. For instance,
the use of fertilisers in (irrigation) agriculture or the establishment of closed water
cycles in industrial processes may have direct impacts on the water quality. The higher
the water quality at the outlet of a process, the larger the amounts of water that are available for the end users. However, the relationship between water quality and quantity is
a very complex one, its nature depending strongly on the individual catchment, the type
of the aquatic ecosystem under consideration and the socio-economic framework conditions (Australian Government 2013 ).
• MWEPs are embedded into local and regional framework conditions.
There is a wide range of technical solutions for different water-related problems,
but they are not always adapted to the specifi c regional needs or capacities.
Biochemical treatments of waste water, for instance, have to be adjusted to the specifi c climatic conditions in order to assure satisfying treatment results. The complexity of technical solutions has an impact on their potential fi eld of application.
Local knowledge and capacities as well as issues of long-term maintenance have to
be taken into consideration when technological decisions are made. Integrated
views and approaches can open up synergies in this regard. For instance, water provision and disposal of waste water may be regarded as interlinked sectors, based on
the actual local framework conditions. Attempts to reuse domestic wastewater for
diverse purposes, such as for agricultural irrigation, have proven to be successful in
many parts of the world already (Oron et al 1999 ).
• MWEPs are frequently embedded in an international/interstate context; complex
legal issues pose a challenge to international water law.
Flowing water does not stop at political borders. Therefore, international
aspects are a crucial variable for the implementation of MWEPs. Water law is
evolving more and more into a part of environmental law under the leading principle of sustainability (Farrajota 2009 ). This is true for both national and international law and refl ects that rational water law has to be compatible on all levels
of regulation. Integrated water resource management (IWRM) incorporates basic
elements of modern (European) water law, such as the focus on river basins as
management objectives or public participation during the planning and establishment of water management framework plans. In general, there are three largely
undisputed rules of customary international water law concerning non-navigational uses of international water resources. These are the rule of equitable and
reasonable utilisation, the no-harm rule and the duty to cooperate. Apart from
that, the content of framework conventions and regional water treaties forms a
heterogeneous legal foundation, on the basis of which interstate confl icts need to
be dealt with.
3 Major Water Engineering Projects: Defi nitions, Framework Conditions, Systemic…
• MWEPs potentially have effects on both water quality and water quantity.
Criteria of water quality and quantity may be directly linked to each other, especially
when we look at the usage of surface water: While, on the one hand, quantitative aspects
can be solved by an improved management of quality, intelligent management of water
amounts can, on the other hand, have positive impacts on water quality. For instance,
the use of fertilisers in (irrigation) agriculture or the establishment of closed water
cycles in industrial processes may have direct impacts on the water quality. The higher
the water quality at the outlet of a process, the larger the amounts of water that are available for the end users. However, the relationship between water quality and quantity is
a very complex one, its nature depending strongly on the individual catchment, the type
of the aquatic ecosystem under consideration and the socio-economic framework conditions (Australian Government 2013 ).
• MWEPs are embedded into local and regional framework conditions.
There is a wide range of technical solutions for different water-related problems,
but they are not always adapted to the specifi c regional needs or capacities.
Biochemical treatments of waste water, for instance, have to be adjusted to the specifi c climatic conditions in order to assure satisfying treatment results. The complexity of technical solutions has an impact on their potential fi eld of application.
Local knowledge and capacities as well as issues of long-term maintenance have to
be taken into consideration when technological decisions are made. Integrated
views and approaches can open up synergies in this regard. For instance, water provision and disposal of waste water may be regarded as interlinked sectors, based on
the actual local framework conditions. Attempts to reuse domestic wastewater for
diverse purposes, such as for agricultural irrigation, have proven to be successful in
many parts of the world already (Oron et al 1999 ).
• MWEPs are frequently embedded in an international/interstate context; complex
legal issues pose a challenge to international water law.
Flowing water does not stop at political borders. Therefore, international
aspects are a crucial variable for the implementation of MWEPs. Water law is
evolving more and more into a part of environmental law under the leading principle of sustainability (Farrajota 2009 ). This is true for both national and international law and refl ects that rational water law has to be compatible on all levels
of regulation. Integrated water resource management (IWRM) incorporates basic
elements of modern (European) water law, such as the focus on river basins as
management objectives or public participation during the planning and establishment of water management framework plans. In general, there are three largely
undisputed rules of customary international water law concerning non-navigational uses of international water resources. These are the rule of equitable and
reasonable utilisation, the no-harm rule and the duty to cooperate. Apart from
that, the content of framework conventions and regional water treaties forms a
heterogeneous legal foundation, on the basis of which interstate confl icts need to
be dealt with.
3 Major Water Engineering Projects: Defi nitions, Framework Conditions, Systemic…