ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a 25-year kaleidoscopic history of confused and competing United States (US) approaches that are implemented through our bilateral development assistance, channeled through multilateral institutions and translated through diplomatic and military engagements in geographies deemed strategically important. One clear lesson that the nigh-forgotten incident provides is that it is not possible to separate the policies and programs of US overseas engagements from the centuries-long domestic experiences of managing water within our own borders. The first international water treaty involving the US government was signed with Mexico in 1906 in response to years of contentious border incidents in which users on both sides of the Rio Grande and Colorado River lodged claims against each other. During the George W. Bush administration, the battle for control over international water policy swung between Congress and the Department of State amid the larger budgetary and policy fights.
