Stagnant Rivers: Transboundary Water Security in South and Southeast Asia

Jessica Williams

doi:10.3390/w10121819

Abstract

Transboundary rivers are increasingly difficult to govern and often involve issues of national security, territoriality, and competition. In developing countries, the management and governance of these rivers is dominated by a particular decision making group, often comprised of politicians, bureaucrats, and engineers. These groups perpetrate a technocratic paradigm towards the management of transboundary water, with limited genuine international cooperation. The transboundary water situation in South and Southeast Asia is becoming increasingly fraught as the geopolitical context is changing due to China’s increased involvement in regional issues and climate change. With over 780 million people dependent on these rivers, their governance is vital to regional and international stability. Yet, the technocratic management of transboundary rivers persists and is likely to become increasingly unsustainable and inequitable. A discourse-based approach is applied to consider transboundary water governance in the shifting South and Southeast Asian context. The result is an alternative perspective of why governance approaches on transboundary rivers have resisted meaningful reform.

Highlights

Water governance and management is a challenge for governments, those in the developing world [1]
Analysis of state documents concerning the Mekong, Ganges-Brahmaputra, and Mekong Rivers show that the sanctioned discourse is the hydraulic mission paradigm
This approach encourages development through control of the river based on infrastructure construction, and is generally associated with technical, scientific, or economic narratives and can be securitised. This is problematic as the discourse allows little space for environmental, social, or climate change-orientated narratives

Summary

Introduction

Water governance and management is a challenge for governments, those in the developing world [1]. Transboundary rivers present additional complications and often involve issues of national security, territoriality, and competition. The management and governance of transboundary rivers in developing countries is dominated by a particular decision-making group, often comprised of politicians, bureaucrats, and dominated by engineers and technocrats [2]. These groups perpetrate a technocratic paradigm towards the management of transboundary water, which is characterised by large, often unilateral infrastructure projects with limited genuine international cooperation. The transboundary water situation in South and Southeast Asia is becoming an increasing concern with a changing geopolitical context, which includes China’s increased involvement in regional issues and climate change. With over 780 million people dependent on transboundary rivers [3,4], the future of their governance is vital to regional and international stability, yet, the current approach of management is likely to become increasingly unsustainable and inequitable

Methods

Results

Conclusion