ABSTRACT
Almost half the world is situated in transboundary river basins. From time to time actions in a broader interest require cooperation from the countries sharing those basins. Typical examples are the development of navigation on a river or the protection of downstream ecosystems from upstream pollution. But cooperation is not always easy to obtain, because the benefits may not accrue equitably to the riparian countries involved or may not even be evident.
Land and water resources of transboundary river basins should be managed in an integrated way at the catchment level, just as is the case for national rivers. This means making the most of social, economic, and environmental benefits related to the water, and sharing the benefits equitably among all parties. This requires establishing institutions— agreements, laws, organized procedures, and joint commissions and administrations. And it requires the cooperation of national organizations and administrative bodies that usually do not even talk to one another.
New cooperation arrangements for transboundary water systems are emerging, thanks largely to the broker role played by international organizations. The trend is to reduce the risk for conflicts and improve the capacity to reach shared solutions through training and better access to negotiation methods. Ecosystem protection and risk management are new drivers for transboundary cooperation. There is a clear move from a mono-sectoral approach towards a more multi-purpose one. Non-state actors are also gradually becoming more involved.
But actions on transboundary water systems are still far from integrated water resources management. And integrated water resources management should be viewed as only one element of broader cooperation in regions that are connected by water systems.
