International water law for transboundary aquifers –a global perspective

Abstract

Today two global conventions, the Convention on the law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses (1997) and the Convention on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes are part of the available international legal framework for managing transboundary water resources. In addition to these two instruments, a specific text exists for transboundary aquifers: the Draft articles on the law of transboundary aquifers, annexed to two UN General Assembly resolutions on the topic. These three instruments apply to transboundary aquifers in different ways with differences in their scope, and numerous similarities in their principles. This paper will present the rules of international water law, as they apply to transboundary aquifers following from these instruments, with a specific focus on the draft articles.