ABSTRACT
As water scarcity challenges have become more extreme in recent decades and as population and economic growth have put more pressure on renewable freshwater resources and ecological systems, new questions have been raised about moral and legal rights to water. While various forms of water rights have been present in different water management systems for centuries, a “human right” to water in the context of international human rights law is a relatively recent concept, only achieving formal acknowledgement by the United Nations in 2010 after decades of debate. Even today, however, the application of the human right to water is in its early phases, with limited agreement of how the concept should be applied and enforced. This chapter reviews the history of the debate around the human right to water, the current form and legal basis of the right as defined by the United Nations and specific countries or regions, and experience in applying the right.
