ABSTRACT
Conflict over water is integrally related to many factors. At the domestic level, water can cause or contribute to internal conflict, which generally manifests itself at the community level, between individual users and water-use sectors. Additionally, water can lead to political instability and increase external tensions. Poor government water management schemes, the lack of a social safety measures in times of crisis, can all produce conflict.i Equity between and among the various interest groups, stakeholders, and consumers needs to be carefully monitored throughout the process of policy development and implementation. In transboundary contexts, where water crosses political borders, these factors concern the equity in the utilization between the states sharing the water. Equity is determined through the operationalization of equitable and reasonable utilization principle, which is unanimously agreed to be a rule of customary international law, thus binding to all nations.
