ABSTRACT
Abstract This paper addresses financial agreements and non-agreements between States regarding the use of shared water resources. A distinction is being made between water use and water system use. The first considers physical extraction of water from the source for economic or social benefit whereas the latter concerns economic activities that take place in the vicinity of water systems. This distinction allows adequate management approaches and structures and subsequent financial measures and/or compensations between States based on the actual use. The paper provides an introduction to the economic valuation of transboundary use of water for consumptive or productive use and its financial consequences, whereas water system use is addressed from the point of view of transboundary management of shared water bodies, and the financial consequences for individual States. Examples include: a proposal for the valuation of water in dispute in the Middle East; consequences of the joint Hungarian-Slovak attempt and failure of the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros dam, and the apparent success of the Canadian-US International Joint Commission; non-address of financial matters in the Meuse parlementarian conference; charging for water use in the draft EU directive establishing a framework for European Community water policy; financial consequences of the implementation of the Lake Victoria environmental management project for the riparian States; financial incentives for resolving water disputes. Keywords: access, agreements, finance, incentives, international, management, shared waters, valuation
1 Water as an economic asset Growing awareness of scarcity of water as a resource leads to increased attention to water as an economic asset. Economic development and environmentally sustainable
Water: Economics, Management and Demand. Edited by Melvyn Kay, Tom Franks and Laurence Smith. Published in 1997 by E & FN Spon. ISBN 0 419 21840 8.
