Toward Global Law on Water

Abstract

With increasing recognition of a global crisis in water resources, it becomes relevant to ask whether existing legal systems can make serious contributions to the management of the earth's water resources. This article examines the evolution of national water law and its key features, the coevolution of international water law, and a new focus in the twenty-first century to develop global water law against a backdrop of growing pluralism in water governance. In the past, national and international water law has generally reflected prevailing social beliefs and state practice rather than shaped them. However, contemporary developments in national and international water law suggest that an emergent global law is increasingly shaping practice instead of merely reflecting it. This global law seeks proactively to influence future water management, rather than being limited by past decisions.