The scarcity of freshwater is now an important issue in many parts of the world.
| Title | International fresh water resources : conflict or cooperation? |
| Publication Type | Book |
| Year of Publication | 1997 |
| Authors | Wallensteen, P, Swain, A |
| Pagination | vi, 32 p. : 5 fig., 2 tab. |
| Date Published | 1997-06-01 |
| Publisher | Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) |
| Place Published | Stockholm, Sweden |
| ISBN Number | 9188714470 |
| Keywords | india ganga river, nile river basin, north america river colorado, rhine river basin, river basins, sdiwrm, south america river parana, water quality, water quantity, water resources management, water rights, water shortage |
| Abstract | The scarcity of freshwater is now an important issue in many parts of the world. When multiple countries are jointly dependent on the same water body, one's withdrawal or pollution provides the ground for conflict as well as cooperation among the riparian countries to get the best use of the available resource. By making comparative analysis of the sharing of five international rivers, the study tries to determine under what conditions the conflict or cooperation takes place among nation-states over the freshwater issues. The river systems which are selected for close scrutiny are the Rhine in Europe, Colorado in North and Central America, Parana in South America, Nile in Africa and Ganges in Asia. The authors conclude: there is a larger conflict potential in water quantity issues than in water quality issues. Issues of river water pollution and regulation appear to have a record of finding solutions. Finally, the successful cases of handling river water disputes appeared to be those cases where an "international regime" covered an entire river basin, not just two major users of the river. The reason might be that this gives a chance of more relaxed discussions, more coalition building and, in essence, more third party activity. (author's abstract) |
| Notes | Includes references |
| Custom 1 | 210 |
