Transboundary Water Research Articles

Hydro-Political Dynamics Between China–India–Pakistan: Dams and Transboundary River Governance Amidst Geopolitical Contestations

Transboundary rivers raise critical concerns for state security amidst contemporary ecological strain and regional geopolitics in South Asia. The challenge of ‘water security’ is underscored by the substantial reliance on transboundary rivers, compounded by the multifaceted impacts of climate change and the simmering geopolitical tensions among riparian nations, especially in the complex dynamics between India–China and India–Pakistan. This study endeavours to illuminate distinctive characteristics of the South Asian transboundary governance framework, wherein rivers are subjected to intensive damming aimed at (a) harnessing hydroelectric potential and (b) leveraging water resources as geopolitical bargaining chips, thereby exerting pressure; however, order is not specified, particularly. In this intricate milieu, international conventions often fail to reconcile internal contradictions inherent within the transboundary governance paradigm. Consequently, transboundary water resources have metamorphosed into an extension of geopolitical realities, embodying intricate interplay between hydrology, geopolitics and state security within the region, especially between China, India and Pakistan.

Border Water: The Politics of U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Water Management, 1945–2015

Border Water: The Politics of U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Water Management, 1945–2015

Simulating streamflow in a transboundary river catchment: The implications of hybrid rainfall data

The lack of observed data for the hydrological modelling of catchments across borders has hindered the management of transboundary water resources. This study investigated the implications of different degrees of hybridization of observed rainfall data using ERA5-Land reanalysis precipitation data in simulating streamflow in the Ruvubu River catchment across the Burundi-Tanzania border. The hydrological model of the Ruvubu River catchment was set up and iteratively updated using 0%–100% hybrid rainfall data, parameterized, simulated, and then evaluated against observed streamflow data at the catchment outlet. The findings show that the performance of the hydrological model decreased as the degree of rainfall data hybridization increased. However, model parameters satisfactorily compensated for input uncertainty when the model had hybrid rainfall data not exceeding 15% hybridization. Subsequently, errors in the simulated flow were also minimal. This implies that the simulated flow from the model when it has hybrid rainfall data not exceeding 15% hybridization can represent the simulated flow when it has 0% hybrid rainfall data. These findings show the need to develop thresholds of rainfall data hybridization for different global precipitation datasets in data-scarce transboundary river catchments.

First diatom-based assessment of Lower Hari Rud River (a transboundary system) in Afghanistan.

It is essential to determine the dominant/indicator species and their ecological preferences to develop a comprehensive bioassessment strategy for rivers. The objective of this work was to provide dependable ecological evaluation techniques for ecosystems that experience significant human-induced disruptions, with the Hari Rud River (a transboundary water resource) serving as a case study during the May (wet) and July (dry) periods of 2023. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen, ortho-phosphate (P ), and nitrate (N ) had substantial impacts on the spatial distribution of diatom species in the basin. Relatively pollution-tolerant species, including Nitzschia brevissima, N. capitellata, N. umbonata, N. palea, N. dissipata, and Navicula cryptocephala, had close relationships with EC and P , integrated with Joi Injil and Karbar streams. Of the sampling stations, especially Hari Rud River1 and Hari Rud River2, exhibited pollution-sensitive diatom species, Cymbella excisa, Achnanthidium minutissimum, Diatoma moniliformis, Cymbella affinis, and Meridion circulare. Various eco-regional diatom metrics exhibited distinct scores, indicating a range of ecological status from high to bad in the Lower Hari Rud River basin. European diatom indices revealed good ecological status for Hari Rud River 1 and 4, but poor or bad ecological statuses for Joi Injil and Karbar streams. The findings of the current study emphasize the requirements of autecological studies to understand the regional diatom compositions and their ideal survival ranges in different locations before considering using non-regional diatom indices to evaluate the ecological status of lotic systems.

The implications of further reservoir development on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia: trade-offs between hydropower, irrigation and transboundary water security

Abstract We evaluate the implications for Ethiopia and Egypt of two dams that could be built upstream of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), in combination with hypothetical Ethiopian irrigation schemes upstream of these Blue Nile hydropower facilities. Two new dams could increase average annual hydropower on the Blue Nile River from Lake Tana to Khartoum and the Main Nile River from Khartoum to Aswan by almost 50% (30.2 TWh yr−1 to 44.7 TWh yr−1). A system-wide analysis of the expected financial benefits of various development scenarios reveals little financial justification for substantial irrigation withdrawals upstream of the GERD. Withdrawing 5 billion cubic meters annually upstream of the GERD without additional hydropower development would reduce total average annual hydropower generation on the Blue and Main Nile River by 10.9% (3.3 TWh yr−1). If two new dams were constructed upstream of the GERD, withdrawing this volume would cause a 15.2% (6.8 TWh yr−1) reduction. 1 and 5 bcm yr−1 of withdrawals upstream of the three dams would also affect water supply downstream, reducing average annual outflow from Sudan’s Merowe Reservoir by 1.1% (0.7 bcm yr−1) and 6.2% (4.1 bcm yr−1), respectively, and by <1% (0.2 bcm yr−1) and 3.3% (1.8 bcm yr−1) at Egypt’s High Aswan Dam (HAD) Reservoir, respectively. Whilst the annual probability of the HAD storage falling below 60 bcm and invoking its current drought management policy is estimated to currently be 0.085, these two scenarios of upstream withdrawals would increase that annual probability to 0.111 and 0.452 respectively.

Study on the Mechanism of Multi-Scalar Transboundary Water Security Governance in the Shenzhen River

This paper examines the evolution and mechanism of multi-scalar transboundary water governance in the Shenzhen River, flowing through Shenzhen and Hong Kong since the 1980s. The research identifies three phases of governance: negotiation, consultation, and cooperation. It highlights the roles of the Shenzhen government as initiator, the Hong Kong government as collaborator, and the central government of China as participant and coordinator. The analysis indicates that severe flooding events, economic growth, and central government support are key consensus drivers. The research fills a gap in the understanding of transboundary governance, providing insights for improved cooperation and regional development between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Problematic issues of international legal regulation of the use, reproduction and protection of specially protected flora

The article is devoted to the study of some aspects of international legal regulation of the use, reproduction and protection of specially protected flora. Unfortunately, the expansion of the scope of international environmental law does not adequately reflect the state of the environment. The problems of climate change, the destruction of the Earth’s ozone layer, deforestation, desertification, conservation of migratory species of animals, fish and birds, transboundary water and air pollution, natural disasters, preservation of biodiversity and the natural heritage of mankind, which directly affect flora, have now become global. Everyone in the world is interested in a high-quality environment, careful use of natural resources and fair distribution of income from natural resources. However, the current international environmental law is not a sufficiently perfect tool to address the problem of regulating the use, reproduction and protection of specially protected plant species. In particular, it is not properly systematised and codified. The author analyses that the problem identified in the article is not solved by the existing international legal acts of a general nature - the Stockholm Declaration on the Environment, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992), and the World Charter for Nature (1982). These documents are not legally binding and are not systemically important for international environmental law. Other international environmental legal acts are not universal. They were adopted at different times, by different actors, and contain many gaps. Often, the documents are declarative, contradictory and not based on the modern international legal doctrine of environmental law development.

Integrating importance- performance analysis into transboundary natural resource management of water trails: Case study at the Chattahoochee river national recreation area water trail in Atlanta, GA (USA)

Despite growth in National Water Trail designations year after year along with paddlesports popularity, there is little research on water trail users' experiences within transboundary managed water trail systems. Specifically, there is a lack of evidence regarding which experiential attributes paddlers' find important and how these transboundary zones perform on those attributes. This is problematic because the entities managing transboundary water trail zones do not know if there are common attributes that are important to all water trail users and if they are providing satisfactory water-based recreational experiences based on these expectations. With this gap in mind, this research integrates the domain of Transboundary Natural Resource Management for National Water Trail Systems with the analytical method of Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) to explicitly compare paddlers’ perceptions (n = 360) of 12 water trail attributes between two different management zones (city park vs. federal National Park Service) of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area Water Trail in Atlanta, GA (USA). Results revealed that paddlers within both management zones place high importance on the biophysical attribute of water quality yet are equally dissatisfied with the performance of water quality, a reported decades long issue for the Chattahoochee River. Additionally, paddlers within the National Park Service zone expressed greater dissatisfaction with the lack opportunities available for quiet spaces and paddling in undeveloped areas. Results also indicated that water trail visitors had various levels of expectations and perceptions of river setting attributes that differed by management zones. A focused understanding of how physical, social, and managerial attributes of National Water Trails are perceived by recreational users (e.g., paddlers) aids transboundary natural resource efforts in collaborative decision making to better balance river conservation and recreation management for the future sustainability of National Water Trails. Management implications•The increasing popularity of river-based recreation and National Water Trail Systems spanning multiple jurisdictional zones justifies the need to proactively discuss transboundary visitor use management and collaboration across resource management entities (e.g., federal, municipal, private, state, etc.).•Importance-Performance Analyses (IPA) are a cost-effective and relatively intuitive method for managers across multiple jurisdictions to collaboratively manage the satisfactory performance of recreational setting attributes, while also allowing visitors to express their opinions and perspectives on current and future managerial elements.•Managers can gain a stronger understanding of the process to evaluate river setting indicators through analytical methods (e.g., IPA) that may save them time and money, as well as provide a logical decision-making pathway to prioritizing action within the Interagency Visitor Use Management Framework (IVUMF) for parks, rivers, and other protected areas.

Gendered Practices in Transboundary Water Negotiations

Abstract This paper analyzes how practices in water diplomacy, and in particular in international water negotiations, are gendered and with what effects. We conduct a comparative analysis of three intergovernmental decision-making forums on international rivers: the Nile Technical Advisory Committee, the Chu-Talas Water Commission, and the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine. These three cases demonstrate how gender is relational and creates situations in which gendered norms and values are strengthened, challenged, and changed, and sometimes used strategically to gain more power. In addition, two specific dynamics were observed: first, aligning with gendered stereotypes, confrontational practices in water negotiations are perceived as masculine and cooperative ones as feminine. Second, women’s participation in negotiations leads to both male and female negotiators adapting their behavior, resulting in a tendency towards less openly confrontational dynamics in more gender-balanced settings.

Perspectives and Prospects for International Water Law in the ASEAN Region: Is There an ASEAN Way to Transboundary Water Cooperation Under International Law?

Around the world there are over 300 transboundary watercourses and around 500 transboundary groundwater bodies shared by two or more States. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region contains forty-one transboundary surface and groundwater bodies shared between ten ASEAN States and the five non-ASEAN States at its periphery. As transboundary water resources they are governed under international law found in a series of layers across a spectrum of bindingness (customary international law, global–regional–multilateral–bilateral agreements and non-binding instruments). Through an analysis of the international law relevant to the governance of transboundary water resources in the region, this study seeks to explore the ASEAN approach to transboundary water governance under international law. While this analysis finds that there is no uniform practice across the region, the paper concludes with possible paths forward for the legalization of transboundary water cooperation.

Towards Cross-Border Fisheries Management: An Analysis of Fleet Structures and Species-Specific Regulatory Measures in the Aegean Sea

Intrinsic differences in the applied management measures of shared stocks in transboundary waters inhibit the ability of either state to benefit from such measures, as one state may benefit in lieu of the other, thus reducing the efficacy of both. This study compares for the first time the fleet structure, specific management measures applied to species-specific regulations for commercial fishing, species listed in official monitoring schemes, and protected taxa between Greece and Türkiye for the Aegean Sea. A comparative analysis utilizing the official data was sourced from both countries. Large-scale Greek and Turkish fishing fleets have been modernized within the last 30 years (1991-2021). Greek and Turkish large-scale fishing fleets included smaller trawlers with lower tonnage and slightly higher engine horsepower, while purse seines of both states included larger vessels with higher horsepower and tonnage. This indicates that the fishing pressure on the demersal resources in the Aegean Sea has partially decreased, but the fishing pressure on pelagic resources has increased despite the decrease in the number of vessels. Only 11 out of 74 minimum conservation reference sizes (MCRS) are sufficiently set above the Lm50 sizes they should be based on, whereas 18 species need reproductive studies, and 22 are set below the Lm50, and could benefit from an increase. The application of specific closed seasons for commercial species was used by both states with the intent to protect the reproductive periods of some stocks. However, several of these closure periods did not fully or even partially cover the spawning periods of the respective species. Species-specific closures were applied to 13 species in Greece and 23 species in Türkiye, with only two fish species (Xiphias gladius and Thunnus thynnus) listed for both countries. Only 14 species (out of 34 protected by Greece and 46 by Türkiye) are protected by both states, most of which are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). Harmonization of fisheries management measures currently does not align between the two neighbouring states, and the General Fisheries Commission of the Mediterranean is the competent authority that would be able to restructure such measures, especially as Türkiye has been aligning their measures with that of the EU for the accession process. This contribution highlights the clear differences between Greece and Türkiye, and provides advice for developing a unified management regime for the Aegean Sea.

Global centre for climate change impacts on transboundary waters

Global centre for climate change impacts on transboundary waters Dr. Gail Krantzberg and Dr. Andrew Gronewold, unpack the priorities of the Global Centre for Climate Change Impacts on Transboundary Waters. Climate change threatens water resources across North America and worldwide. It intensifies floods and droughts, worsens water quality, exacerbates shoreline erosion, and damages homes and other infrastructure. Communities must learn to adapt to these worsening extremes. However, the tools and knowledge for adaptation are often non-existent, fragmented across jurisdictional boundaries, or simply too difficult to access and use.

Integrated hydrological modeling and water resource assessment in the Mayurakshi River Basin: A comprehensive study from historical data to future predictions

This study employs the SWAT hydrologic model to integrate climatological and hydrological processes for an in-depth analysis of the Mayurakshi River Basin. Utilizing the Markov Chain Model, the study evaluates water availability, flow patterns, and the basin's response to various climatic and land-use scenarios. Over 30 years of daily observed river discharge data were rigorously calibrated, validated, and analyzed for uncertainty, with critical data from the Massanjore Dam and Tilpara Barrage gauge stations characterizing the river's hydrological behavior. The result suggests the watershed received an average annual precipitation of 1432.4 mm, with evapotranspiration accounting for 40% of total water loss (578.4 mm). Surface runoff constituted over 90% of the total discharge, highlighting its importance for agricultural practices, particularly during the dry season. However future projections (2021-2031) indicate a significant decrease in mean annual precipitation (1404.7 mm) and a drop in evapotranspiration (542.1 mm or 38% of mean precipitation), attributed to reduced vegetation cover and increased settlement, leading to enhanced surface runoff. By quantifying internal renewable blue water, evapotranspiration, and soil water, this research provides crucial data for long-term water resource planning and assessment. The findings are valuable for national, regional, and transboundary water management agencies, offering insights into sustainable water resource management under changing climatic and different land-use conditions.

Managing Transboundary Water Resources At the Edge of Human Interface: A Case of Kagera River Basin, Tanzania

Globally, water concerns stemming from human factors are evident, and the Kagera River Basin exemplifies this challenge. This study investigated the influence of human elements on transboundary water resource management in the Kagera River Basin. Utilizing focus group discussions, household surveys, key informant interviews, and field observations, the study analysed land use changes via remote sensing; and processed quantitative data using SPSS 20 and ArcGIS 10.4. Results highlighted economic, political, and social factors as key factors influencing transboundary water resource management. The institutional analysis identified major players to include the Ministry of Water, Lake Victoria Basin Water Board, NELSAP, Ministry of Agriculture, village governments, and CONCERN/OXFAM. Non-climatic factors such as water infrastructure management, socio-economic factors, conflicting water uses, agricultural practices causing soil erosion, and land use/cover changes were identified as central to transboundary water resource challenges. Agricultural expansion and land use shifts in the basin in 1986, 2000 and 2021 were pinpointed as contributors to water resource challenges, impacting availability, access, and quality. Anthropogenic-driven land use changes emerged as significant contributors to pollution, habitat loss, and alterations in water quality. While human factors substantially influence water resources, their impact is exacerbated by anthropogenic activities. Thus, fostering collaborative planning and stewardship initiatives at the local level is crucial for sustaining transboundary water resources. This involves engaging community members and leaders in developing resilience plans and initiating international cooperation, and innovative participatory approaches for effective transboundary water resources management.

Progress in understanding the social dimensions of desalination and future research directions

The piece outlines the contributions of key works in the field of the political ecology of desalination over the past decade. We note that the field is diverse in terms of contributions from geographers, sociologists, anthropologists, and public policy scholars. The research to date has been concerned with the ways in which the deployment of desalting techniques can reflect and reinforce social processes of inequality, political power and economic flows. In this way, desalination has been opened up for intellectual debate beyond technical considerations of the desalting industry and engineers. A critical perspective that complements the recent discussions of environmental harm caused by the desalination industry has emerged as well across a number of global and transboundary contexts. A number of themes emerged that will continue to be of interest to scholars and that need to be addressed in the years ahead. First, desalination intersects transboundary water governance and geopolitics between different water uses and emerges from complex assemblages of local and global actors, including financial actors, water companies, governments, technologies, and natural forces. Second, critical scholarship on desalination needs to continue to pay attention to the interests in and overarching patterns of, the Green New Deal and Blue Economy, each of which intersect with the worlds of academia and policymaking, and involve issues of climate adaptation and mitigation. Third, questions about equity remain with desalination as it is a solution deeply imbricated in the unequal distribution of resources, and questions about representation in decision-making remain. Fourth, research on finance and infrastructure have been at the core of critical desalting research and should remain so. Fifth, there is a growing heterogeneity in terms of research in types of desalting, from reverse osmosis to inland desalting to nuclear and more. This variety will make for rich research for the years ahead. Our hope is that the epistemological, theoretical, and methodological flexibility of this area of research will remain a strong point continuing its rigor, as well as the already robust collegiality among scholars in this interesting, and still nascent field.

“Let It Go”: Comparative Study on Zombie Water Projects in Europe and Asia

To date, there can be found numerous controversial large-scale water projects in Asia and Europe. The so-called “zombie water projects” are associated with insufficient communication, massive investments and prolonged marginalisation of the negative impacts. Traditional impact assessment studies backed by water engineers and other water professionals are struggling to accountably address the political issues. Hence, in the presented study, a new schematic political impact assessment was proposed to evaluate meaningful water dialogue. To dynamics of water dialogue over the zombie water projects was investigated upon the VUDU analytical framework at four micro-case studies (Navigational Channel Improvement Project, Myitsone dam, Oder-Danube-Elbe Canal and Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros dam). These studies were selected according to the extensive literature review to illustrate different development pathways and long-term behavioural changes. The results show that despite the conflict of interests and prolonged distrust towards zombie water projects, the justification of these projects were often driven by inconsistent empirical data, (i)rational justification and changing political environments. In addition, by comparing various four micro-case studies, we noticed that the meaningful water dialogue was more influenced by the degree of transparency and communication rather than the actual decision whenever to build such water project or not. By showing contemporary dilemmas towards the large-scale water project development, the presented study provides valuable feedback on the previous interdisciplinary studies regarding the transboundary water governance.

Emotionality in Transboundary Water: A Case Study of Helmand River.

While a substantial body of literature perceives rationality as the only path for negotiations over the use of the transboundary shared watercourse, recent scholarship has unveiled the role of emotion in decision-making processes over the use of the shared water. This research aims to challenge the conventional approach-rationality-by exploring affective dynamics of the riparian nations of the Helmand River (shared between upstream Afghanistan and downstream Iran) and how decisions over the use of the shared Helmand River are ingrained in the emotional dispositions of the riparian nations. Taking an integrated approach combining emotional political ecology and neoclassical realism, this research unravels the intricate emotional dynamics of the riparian nations to the flow of the Helmand River. The staggering increase in water withdrawal-both surface and groundwater resources- coupled with the population growth, and adverse effects of climate changes has stimulated the negative emotional dispositions of the borderland communities- the sufferings of farming communities due to lack of access to water-resulting in water conflict escalation in the Helmand River Basin. Finally, it is asserted that negotiations over the use of Helmand River are considered to be ill-equipped unless emotionality and rationality-a pluralistic approach- are equally weighed or gauged in water allocation and utilization by the co-riparian nations.

Maintaining status quo or realizing transformation in transboundary water conflicts? The power–interests–identity nexus in the Helmand river basin

ABSTRACT This paper contributes to the critical hydropolitics literature by introducing the power–interests–identity nexus framework and addresses how it shapes decisions and (re)actions to transform or maintain water conflicts. The framework is investigated using the Helmand/Hirmand river basin, shared by Afghanistan and Iran. It elucidates which factors led to the transformation of Iran–Afghanistan water conflicts and the signing of the 1973 Treaty, as well as the influential factors that have contributed to its maintenance in the 2020s. The results demonstrate using the framework provides comprehensive insight by identifying the influential latent factors of transboundary water arrangements.

Environmental Option and Remedy for Resuscitating Dying Lake Chad

Lake Chad, a vital freshwater reservoir in the Sahel region, faces a severe decline attributed to climate change, population growth, and unsustainable water practices. This study proposes a comprehensive transboundary water transfer initiative, sourcing freshwater from the water-rich regions of south-south, south-east, and south-west Nigeria to rejuvenate Lake Chad and its surrounding basins. This initiative employs a robust methodology comprising hydrological assessments of potential water sources, pipeline design, and construction informed by successful international case studies. Environmental impact assessments, stakeholder engagement, water quality management, and phased pilot project implementation ensure a holistic and sustainable approach. Lessons from projects like China's South-North Water Transfer and Australia's Snowy 2.0 provide insights into best practices for environmental stewardship and community involvement. Anticipated outcomes encompass the restoration of Lake Chad's water levels, revitalization of ecosystems, and socio-economic improvements in local communities. The multi-regional approach involving south-south, south-east, and south-west Nigeria seeks to enhance resilience against climate variability while fostering equitable water distribution and regional collaboration. Continuous monitoring, adaptive management, and knowledge sharing with global initiatives are emphasized to ensure the long-term success and sustainability of the project. This study proposes a novel and inclusive approach to address the challenges facing Lake Chad by leveraging freshwater resources from multiple regions in Nigeria. The outlined methodology prioritizes environmental sustainability, community engagement, and draws upon international successes, positioning this initiative as a model for transboundary water management in regions grappling with water scarcity.

Diagnostic and evolutionary models for spatial equilibrium allocation schemes of transboundary water resources

Diagnostic and evolutionary models for spatial equilibrium allocation schemes of transboundary water resources