Management of the Guarani Aquifer System

Abstract

With an extension of 1.2 million square kilometers, the Guarani Aquifer System is one of the largest transboundary groundwater systems in the world. It underlies parts of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay and was only relatively recently recognized as a transboundary resource. The four countries are now in the process of starting up a project to elaborate and implement a common institutional and technical framework for managing and preserving the Guarani Aquifer System for current and future generations. This paper briefly presents the Guarani Aquifer System Project. The preparation process is described due to its particular interest for other similar multi-country endeavors. Following the presentation of the project, the paper takes a forward-looking approach and analyzes the applicability of current international law for transboundary groundwater resources in the context of the Guarani Aquifer System. It concludes that while the basic principles espoused by international law relating to transboundary groundwater resources management are valid, they do not provide very specific guidance. The Guarani Aquifer System is unique and its complex features make it an eclectic case, which already is obliging all stakeholders to work out innovative measures—in the legal, institutional, technical, scientific, social, and economic realms—to develop appropriate activities for its sustainable management.