Research Guide on Transboundary Freshwater Treaties and Other Resources

By Arundhati A. Satkalmi [1]

Arundhati Ashok Satkalmi (Aru) retired in July 2014 as a Senior Research Librarian from the Rittenberg Law Library of St. John’s University School of Law. Prior to joining St. John’s in 1991, Aru worked as the Senior Information Specialist at the corporate headquarters of the Exxon Corporation in New York. In addition to a master’s in library science from St. John’s University, she earned a master’s in government and politics where she specialized in International Law. International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship’s Ballast Water and Sediments of 2004: An Analysis of Logical and Practical Aspects was her master’s thesis. She also holds a certificate from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in International Environmental Law. A Master of Science degree in Geology, earned from Poona University, complements her other degrees. She has presented on the topic of international marine environmental law in the United States and abroad.

NOTE: The idea of creating this research guide was originally conceived by Barbara H. Bean, a Reference Librarian and Adjunct Professor at Michigan State University College of Law, East Lansing, Michigan, who wrote the original article.

Published September/October 2023

(Previously updated by Arundhati A. Satkalmi in February 2014 and in November/December 2017)

See the Archive Version!

1. Introduction

Water: the source of life’s origin and the sustainer of evolving lifeforms. This naturally occurring and renewable substance on Earth — which charts its own course — covers approximately 71 percent of the planet’s surface. However, freshwater lakes and swamps account for a mere 0.29 percent of the Earth’s freshwater.[2] Twenty percent of all fresh surface water is in one lake, Lake Baikal in Asia, and another twenty percent is stored in the Great Lakes in the United States of America. Rivers hold only about 0.006 percent of total freshwater reserves.[3] In addition to accessible surface water contained in lakes and rivers, approximately thirty percent of the earth’s freshwater consists of groundwater held in underground aquifers.[4] Although a “hidden resource”, groundwater serves the basic needs of more than half the world’s population and may be the only source of water in arid and semi-arid regions. Furthermore, glaciers, ice and snow “freeze” about 68.7 percent of the earth’s freshwater.[5]

Approximately 263 of the world’s river basins, with the majority of the world’s freshwater flow, cross or create international political boundaries.[6] 145 countries — with close to half of the world’s population — are in international river basins and 21 countries lie entirely within international basins. Most basins are shared between just two countries, yet there are 13 basins worldwide that are shared between 5 and 8 riparian nations. Five basins — the Congo, Niger, Nile, Rhine, and Zambezi — are shared between 9 and 11 countries. The river that flows through the most nations is the Danube, which travels within the territory of 18 nations.[7] Consequently, in addition to the importance of freshwater for sustaining lifeforms, uses of freshwater resources for commercial, recreational, energy generation, and navigational purposes, these water sources also need consideration in water resource sharing agreements.

Transboundary water resource sharing tends to be contentious. Therefore, cooperative management of this precious natural resource is imperative. Although conflicts over water resources date back thousands of years — in spite of, or perhaps because of the crucial role water plays in sustaining civilization — nations have developed ways to share freshwater resources. In addition to global conventions and rules governing the use of water resources, hundreds of regional treaties and agreements exist between and among nations to address issues ranging from acceptable water quality and quantity to setting of national borders. Many treaties contain mechanisms for conflict resolutions, and many establish international commissions for water resource management. However, existential threats posed by changing climatic conditions have highlighted weaknesses in these existing mechanisms and necessitated their review.[8] To address this process and foster equitable and sustainable cooperation, the Transboundary Water Cooperation Coalition was formed in the Spring of 2023.

Different forms and levels in which water exists, in conjunction with multiple uses of the resource, and diverse adjudicative bodies such as commissions, tribunals, courts, and international actors present a very complex web of freshwater international law. Moreover, bilateral, or regional agreements and related documents tend to exist only in the language(s) of the involved entities. These facts present a challenge in conducting research. Quite often though, websites of think tanks, NGOs, as well as websites of regional and supra-regional entities,[9] and other secondary sources are helpful in tracing or monitoring the development of a particular issue. Although many commercial vendors such as Westlaw, LexisNexis, and HeinOnline provide access to documents and literature for a price, this article focuses on accessing information resources which are available on the Internet at no cost.

2. Water Basics

A sample of resources containing terminology, water data and information about world water resources.

3. Treaties and Other International Agreements

3.1. Major Global and Regional Agreements

3.2. Sources of Regional, Multilateral and Bilateral Agreements

Some agreements may be found in general treaty collections, such as the United Nations Treaty Collection. However, the sources described below focus on treaties and agreements involving freshwater.

3.3. Non-Treaty Instruments

Treaties, as a rule, are developed among and between States. However, government bureaucracies prevent a quick action or deserved attention to the existing or developing issues. Under the auspices of the International Law Association, scholars, scientists and practicing lawyers collaborate and play a significant role in raising awareness of such issues. Often, these efforts have produced draft and model agreements for a possible resolution and are discussed here:

3.4. Selected Background Materials

4. International Organizations

4.1. IGOs

or Intergovernmental Organizations are formed among two or more nations by a treaty to achieve and serve common goal(s) of their members. These could be global or regional in scope. National backing, ability to involve nations and enter into enforceable agreements on their behalf with States or among themselves — while following international law — is their strength. As such, development of any international agreement can be monitored at IGOs.

4.2. NGOs

NGOs or the Nongovernmental Organizations differ from the IGOs as they lack government backing and power to enter into international agreements on behalf of their respective governments. However, like IGOs, the participant of each NGO has common interest. They work at the grassroots level with the assistance and input from dedicated individuals and experts. As such they function as lobbyists or consultants and assist by advising the IGOs. The ability to work freely — without governmental red tape or bureaucracy — within localities in fostering interest in their purpose gives them their strength.

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization, helps finding pragmatic solutions to the most pressing environment and development challenges. Its theme brings together many aspects — including effects of climate change — related to freshwater. Among the many excellent criteria explored include: Building River Dialogue and Governance or BRIDGE: Greater Cooperation through Water Diplomacy; its involvement in the Ridge to Reef, which deals with managing waters from source to sea; the searchable Resources tab which includes the topics related to freshwater and water security; Water and Nature Initiative or WANI that stretches across five continents in 12 river basins, informing the governments and local communities about sustainable water resources management are worth exploring. However, it is entirely possible that I am overlooking other equally valuable aspects.

5. International Water Commissions

Management of transboundary water resources is often delegated to a regional commission. Listed below are commissions for which websites were located.

  • Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization or ACTO was formed by eight contracting parties: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. The website is available in English, Portuguese, and Spanish. The Amazon Cooperation Treaty provides for the formation of “Permanent National Commissions charged with enforcing in their respective territories the provisions set out in this Treaty, as well as carrying out the decisions taken at meetings of Foreign Affairs Ministers Amazonian Cooperation Council…” Further information about the organization and institution is available under the ACTO tab. Options to access Documents and Publications can be exercised through located the Library tab.
  • Autonomous Binational Authority of the Basin of Lake Titicaca (Autoridad Binacional del Lago Titicaca or ALT) was created after negotiations (1955-1996) to reinforce water resource sharing arrangement between Bolivia and Peru. The hyperlink greets with a 404 error but also instructs to use the homepage. The website is only in Spanish. The site does provide English translation; however, the drop-down menu labels are in Spanish. Researchers unfamiliar with Spanish may want to consult Executive summary for information in English.
  • Finnish-Swedish Border River Commission was established in 1972. In 2010, a new Swedish-Finnish border river agreement entered into force, resulting in the establishment of the new Border River Commission (BRC). English language version of the agreement can be accessed from the webpage The BRC develops environmental cooperation in the border river area and performs duties based on the EU’s water-related directives. It submits proposals, motions, and issues statements on matters related to water management. The Commission also monitors water quality and any activities affecting the state of the transboundary waters.[19]
  • Finnish Norwegian Transboundary Water Commission. The Norwegian and Finnish governments concluded an agreement on transboundary waters in 1980 and established the Finnish-Norwegian Transboundary Water Commission. The commission has an advisory role. Its main tasks include submitting proposals and motions and issuing statements on matters related to the management of the transboundary waters, supervising and monitoring their condition and quality, preventing the deterioration of the transboundary waters, and monitoring construction along the waterways and other activities affecting the state of them.[20]
  • Guadiana River Commission. The Guadiana River originates in Spain and enters Portugal. Its course partially forms the boundary between the two nations. Both countries share its water. The Commission’s website is in Spanish and can be translated in English. However, all dropdown tabs/labels remain in Spanish.
  • Indo-Bangladesh Cooperation is facilitated by Indo-Bangladesh Rivers Commission was created by the provisions of the Statute of the Indo-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission done on 24 November 1972. It works towards harnessing the transboundary rivers common to both the countries for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries.[21]
  • Intergovernmental Coordinating Committee of the River Plate Basin Countries was formalized by the Treaty on the River Plate Basin (English version) signed at Brasilia on 23 April 1969 among Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay for the harmonious and equitable utilization of the river resources. The treaty came into force on 14 August 1970. The website gives access to the text in Spanish and Portuguese.[22]
  • International Boundary and Waters Commission (IBWC) is a progression and development of Convention of March 1, 1889 that established the International Boundary Commission (IBC). The 1944 Treaty which expanded its responsibilities and changed its name which is currently recognized as the International Boundary and Water Commission. It administers and provides binational solutions to issues that arise between the United States and Mexico. The IBWC has responsibility for applying the boundary and water treaties between the United States and Mexico and settling differences that may arise in their application. The Mexican section is under the administrative supervision of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is headquartered in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The excellent and easy navigation through the website of the Commission allows researchers to access the United States section, known as International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC) and the Mexican section webpage in Spanish which can be translated in English. The U.S. section through its About Us link provides exceptional historic overview while the Treaties and Minutes links provide superb tools for researching all aspects of related treaties.
  • International Commission for the Protection of Lake Geneva. The International Commission for the Protection of Lake Geneva (CIPEL) was officially founded by a convention between the French and Swiss governments. It was signed in 1962 and became effective in 1963. It monitors the Lake Geneva watershed and, more globally, the Rhone upstream of the French-Swiss border Although the web interface is in English, the documentation is mainly in French. At present, the commission works towards rejuvenating the rivers in the lake’s catchment area to protect biodiversity as well as the quality of lake waters.[23]
  • International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River. The Danube River Protection Convention forms the overall legal instrument for cooperation on transboundary water management in the Danube River Basin. The Convention was signed on June 29, 1994, in Sofia (Bulgaria) and came into force in 1998. It aims to ensure that surface waters and groundwater within the Danube River Basin are managed and used sustainably and equitably. For managing water quality the projects like Policy Guidance on Managing Riverine Plastic Waste in the Danube River Basin are implemented. Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine are the countries within the Danube basin area. It also includes the regions of the Black Sea, Danube Delta, Drava Basin, Sava Basin, and Tisza Basin. The Tasks & Topics tab leads to more than 15 related topics. The library tab leads to maps and data, legal documents, and publications.
  • International Commission for the Protection of the Elbe was formed by a convention — an English translation — among the governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic and the European Economic Community. The contracting parties are to cooperate in the International Commission for the Protection of the Elbe to prevent the pollution of the Elbe and its drainage area. The main goals are the possibility of obtaining drinking water from water pumped from the river’s accompanying groundwater, the possibility to use its water and sediments for agriculture, return to a close-to-natural ecosystem with healthy species diversity, and reduce the harmful effects of Elbe River Basin in the North Sea.[24]
  • International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) was established in 1950 by Germany, France, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland and is the basis for international cooperation for the protection of the Rhine within the ICPR. The Convention on the Protection of the Rhine was signed on 12 April 1999 by representatives of the governments of the five Rhine-bordering countries: France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, and by the European Community. For the benefit of the Rhine and of all its tributaries, the members of the Commission for the Protection of the Rhine successfully co-operate with Austria, Liechtenstein, the Belgian region of Wallonia, and Italy. The ICRP webpage provides access to History of the ICRP which has links to other related conventions.
  • International Joint Commission. In 1909, Canada and the United States signed the Boundary Waters Treaty, which created the Commission (IJC), because national leaders recognized that each country was affected by the other’s actions in lake and river systems along the border.[25] With three commissioners from each country, the IJC finds science-based, independent solutions to transboundary conflicts, balancing competing interests in pursuit of the common good. The Library tab leads to Dockets – Applications and References containing 126 entries provide access to all dockets and related documents covering the time period of January 1, 1912 through July 5, 2017.
  • International Meuse Commission agreement was formed in 2002 and entered into force on 1 December, 2006. The Meuse River is a major geographic link between Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands which cooperate through the Commission towards achieving sustainable and integrated management for the Meuse International River Basin District. An English version of the agreement — along with other agreements — is available under the Agreements tab. Ministerial Declarations as well as European Directives can be retrieved under the Declarations and European Directives tabs respectively. Various downloadable Publications and Links are available for additional information.
  • International Sava River Basin Commission (ISRBC) has been established for the implementation of the Framework Agreement on the Sava River Basin (FASRB). The Agreement was signed in 2002 and ratified in 2004. It aims to establish an international regime for navigation on the Sava River and its navigable tributaries. Its targets also include sustainable use of river and managing hazards caused by natural events and pollution. Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia, Republic of Slovenia, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia are the participants of the regime. The website search features provides easy access to Sava Commission Sessions, Basic Documents and other useful content under the various tabs.
  • Interstate Commission for Water Coordination of Central Asia is formed by an Agreement signed on 18 February 1992 among of five Central Asian States — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan — acting based on equity, equality and consensus.[26] Its mission is to protect the Aral Sea (through the International Fund for the Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS)) and it has the status of an international organization. The Legal Framework link that accompanies Agreement is a good source to monitor and trace Commission’s activities. Portal of Knowledge for Water and Environmental Issues in Central Asia covers the entire region. It offers access to Electronic Library with downloadable versions of Intergovernmental Agreements of Central Asia States under the Knowledge Base tab to see the broader picture of the region.
  • Lesotho Highlands Water Project is a bilateral agreement between the government of the Kingdom of Lesotho and the government of the Republic of South Africa signed on 24 October 1986. It governs the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the Project, as well as the export of water to South Africa, by which Lesotho exports its excess water from the Senqu/Orange River to South Africa. The website gives an overview of the project and access to documents of legal and non-legal nature.
  • Mekong River Commission was established in 1995 by the among Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. The website provides five informative tabs. I found the Publications tab to be the most helpful as it is subdivided by types, topics, and functions. Each subdivision is further broken down into subcategories.[27]
  • Moselle Commission is a public intergovernmental institution based in Trier, Germany, and created on 27 October 1956 by the Convention on the Canalization of the Moselle that was signed by the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Republic and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. However, an English version of the Convention is elusive. The website is in German but is also accessible in Dutch, French, and English. The Services tab under River and Environmental Category leads to International Commissions for the Protection of the Moselle and the Saar which offers researchers a wider perspective of the convention.
  • Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) was created “to achieve sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilization of, and benefit from the common Nile Basin water resources”. In 1998, all riparian countries except Eritrea joined in a dialogue to create a regional partnership to facilitate the common pursuit of sustainable development and management of the waters of River Nile, and on 22nd February 1999, the Council of Ministers (Nile-COM) of Water Affairs in the Nile Basin countries agreed in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to form the transitional mechanism that provides framework for cooperation, the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI). The partnership continues to be led by 10 Member States, namely Burundi, D.R. Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, The Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Eritrea participates as an observer. The International Waters Governance provides a good overview of the Initiative. The Nile Basin Initiative Act, (2002), Agreement on the Nile River Basin Cooperative Framework, could also be of interest to researchers.
  • Organization of Cooperation for the Development of the Gambia River Basin was created by a Convention among Gambia, Guinea and Senegal, which was signed at Kaolack, Senegal, on 30 June 1978. Additional information about this convention and other agreements relating to Gambia river basin is available at the International Environmental Agreements database maintained by the University of Oregon.[28]
  • Organization for the Development of the Senegal River was established on 11 March 1972, by an agreement (in French Organization Pou La Mise En Valeur Fleuve Senegal) among three riparian countries of the river: Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal. The website is in French, but the English version is just a click away. More information about the organization and related conventions is available at the International Water Governance website and An institutional reform to face the future challenges is the vignette of the project.
  • Permanent Indus Commission is established according to Article VIII (3) of the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan done on 19th September 1960.[29] This bilateral commission implements, manages, and solves the disputes arising over water sharing of the six rivers of Indus River system. The treaty granted Pakistan control of the three western rivers namely Indus, Chenab, and Jhelum while India was granted control the three eastern rivers namely Ravi, Bias, and Sutlej.[30]
  • Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation is a non-governmental, non-profit organization in Estonia established to implement projects of environmental protection in the catchment area of Lake Peipsi, which borders Estonia and Russia.[31] Established in 1994, it promotes balanced development of border areas, especially in Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe region with focus on EU external borders. Since 1997, the NGO is working in Pskov Region of Russia. Peipsi CTC has implemented multiple projects in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, the Balkans, and Russia.
  • Uruguay River Management Commission. The website informing about the treaty between Argentina and Uruguay is in Spanish, but a limited version in English is only a click away. Statute of the Uruguay River Came into force on 18 September 1976 by the exchange of the instruments of ratification. Brief information about the treaty in English is available in a 2003 publication Institutions for International Freshwater Management.[32]
  • List of International River Basin Organizations — which shows data entries from 1815–2002 is a useful resource for historical information.

6. Cases and International Events

Many Transboundary water sharing agreements include rules and arrangements for conflict resolution. Therefore, a researcher should look at the procedure of the relevant agreement. This section will describe a few prominent sources.

  • International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of International Justice, is the principle judicial organ of the United Nations. The website, available in English and French, opens a screen that displays a tool bar at the top allowing a researcher to perform Document Search which searches the full text of case-related PDF documents published on the Court’s website. The Site Search feature enables searching of the Court’s entire website. There are five other features which give general information about the Court. The tab bar offers eight options the two of which will be the most useful to a researcher: Cases tab gives access to information about the pending cases, contentious cases further organized by State and incidental proceedings, advisory proceedings, along with judgements, advisory opinions and orders.
  • International Water Law Project addresses future of water law and policy with mission to educate public about issues related to transboundary waters. It has an impressive collection of resources made accessible through eight tags from the webpage. A researcher will be interested in the Institutions tab leading to a hyperlinked list of Transboundary Water Management Organizations; Bibliography which has about twenty five topics and capability of “and” and “or” searching; Useful Links with its five divisions; and Blog offering more than twenty five search criteria, Archives, and Blogroll (a hyperlinked list of other water law related blogs). Moreover, The Documents tab — which is broken down by international documents and the continents (except Australia) — facilitates desired specificity. Project’s Case Law tab gives access to case decisions, and related documents along with summary of the dispute through three links: 1) International Water Law Cases of the Permanent Court of International Justice 2) International Water Law Cases of the International Court of Justice and 3) Other Tribunals. However, coverage seems to be selective and dated.
  • International Water Events Database is a searchable database maintained by Program in Water conflict Management and Transformation offered by the Oregon State University. It documents over 6,400 historical international water relations from 1948 to 2008. Event information includes the basins and countries involved, dates of occurrence, issue areas, the BAR Scale (Water Event Intensity Scale) rating, and a detailed summary of the event. The website offers Data and Datasets, Research and Projects, Map and Image Galleries comprised of global and continental categories, Bibliography Digital Collections, Publications which includes published and unpublished sources, Useful Resources and Links tabs which are worth exploring.

7. Commentary

This article, thus far, has described resources in various categories. However, there are some which do not fit neatly in any of them. I will comment on such resources in this section. Attempt will be made to minimize duplication.

  • American Society of International Law was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Washington. DC. Society’s webpage is searchable. The Society publishes the American Journal of International Law which is supplemented by publicly available AJIL Unbound; International Legal Materials which is supplemented by International Law in Brief; Proceedings of the Annual Meeting, and ASIL Newsletter. These are available in print and accessible electronically; however, full text online access requires membership. ASIL Insight, and International Law Behind the Headlines podcast add to the Society’s resources. It also has the Electronic Resource Guide (ERG) designed to assist researchers of international law on the web. Although access to some of the contents is restricted to ASIL members, interlibrary loan arrangements could be explored.
  • CA Water Info (Information Portal for Water and Environmental Issues in Central Asia) is a knowledgebase of the Aral Sea Basin region in Central Asia. The website has a wealth of national, regional as well as global resources and good geographic and hydrologic background of the region. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 these Republics became independent, and the issue of use and allocation of freshwater resources transformed from national to international nature. To enable co-operation in joint management of the use and conservation of water resources in interstate sources an agreement was reached in 1992 among the five republics which resulted in the formation of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC). ICWC webpage is a gold mine for a legal researcher. Among its seven informative tabs, the About Commission tab will be of interest to researchers as it has links to several legal documents through Legal Framework. CA Water Info, under the Quick Links, has a dropdown feature “Researchers” which eases navigation of the website. The Knowledge Base tab, which enables access to Agreements on Transboundary Water Protection and Use, Maps and Historical Maps, also opens the door to Library under the Publications and Documents. Of course other usual access points: News, Database, Analytics, Tools, Water World, and Projects are available for exploring. researcher can explore. The researchers should be aware that access to some of the sources requires registration; some links lead to dead ends; while some sections are available in the Russian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, and Uzbek languages only.
  • Libraries of many universities offer pathfinders to guide researchers. Catalogs of many universities and national level libraries, such as the Library of Congress, as well as WorldCat are open for searching. These sources, which are too numerous to list, should be consulted when appropriate.
  • Program in Water Conflict Management and Transformation, offered by the Oregon State University through its College for Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, is a site not to be missed! Accepting the risk of duplication, I am describing this source again!! The Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database, and the compilations of Treaties and Databases, Water Resource Links and Other Water Links under Useful Resources open flood-gates of information. Moreover, the University’s International Environmental Agreements (IEA) Database Project offers simple as well as advanced full text search capability. Though mentioned as Environmental, searching for transboundary watercourses results in a good number of search results with hyperlinks. The website mentions the project’s date range as 2002-2020, however it is a valuable resource for old instruments.
  • Peace Palace Library website is searchable and has a rich collection of international law materials. Under the Research Guides tab — which is further divided into nine categories — includes Private International Law, Public International Law, and the Special Topics. Water — the topic of our interest — offers suggestions for recent publications on the subject and Selected Bibliography with hyperlinked resources such as Sources of International Law, Treaties, Case-Law, U N Declarations and Resolutions, Reference Works, Selected Books and Articles, Periodicals, Bibliographies, Databases, and External Links. The website is equally valuable to experienced and novice researchers as well.
  • Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), founded in 1991, is a non-profit organization. Equipped with wide ranging expertise, SIWI acts as advisers to policy makers by providing and promoting water-wise solutions for sustainable development in the areas of water governance, transboundary water management, and through international policy processes. Its website is fully searchable. Among the seven tabs, the Why Water tab informs about all aspects of how water and humanity interacts while the Resources tab leads to the collection of Institute’s reports, policy briefs, working papers and other publications which can be searched and/or filtered either as an individual or in combination of five headings: Resource Type, Year, Region, Topics, and Language.
  • UN-Water, which is an aggregation of about 35 members from U N agencies or programs and fifty partners from international organizations, unions, and other groups from civil society. It was created in 2003 to work as a regional and global coordinator of water-related activities of various U N bodies which deal with various water-related issues. It advises, informs, inspires, and monitors policymakers with issues such as water resources sharing, addressing water quantity and quality aspects, water disasters particularly in light of climate change, and sustainability of the ecosystems. As such, the Sustainable Development Goal 6 is at the heart of its mission. The fact that Knowledge Hub tab leads to the website of the International Institute of Sustainable Development vouches for UN-Waters interest. The Water Facts informs about more than twelve diverse topics including Transboundary Waters, Energy, Climate Change, and Hygiene. Its Policy and Analytical Briefs, SDG 6 and UN Water Development Reports available under the Publications tab could be the precursors to the future trends.
  • Worldwide Inland Navigation Network (WWINN), seemingly the most recent addition, was established in March 2012, in France. It aims to foster an exchange of information, experiences, and best practices among the different authorities in charge of the major navigable waterways management in the world. The website provides access to The USACE Institute for Water Resources, The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), Brazil Inland Waterways, China Inland Waterways, The Mekong River Commission, The Paraná/Paraguay, Pan-European Transport Corridor VII, The Danube Commission, The Moselle Commission, The Sava Commission, and The Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine, St Lawrence, Volga, Nile, Congo, and Niger. It offers information about these major rivers and waterways of the world. However, the website doesn’t look like it has been updated since 2014 and useful for informative purpose only.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of sources published after 2013.

Articles

Books

Theses/Dissertations

Although they are not “publications”, many take a book form in short time. Moreover, they offer good discussion on a very specific subject and offer rich bibliography.

Periodicals

Please do not overlook websites of the national governments and news, newsletters, and event notifications of various organizations and institutions described so far. Legal Scholarship Network is available at SSRN and Lexology. Finally, do not hesitate to use sources such as Google, Google news and Google Scholar while ensuring that the sources are credible.

[1] The author is thankful to my friends Mr. Anthony Todman, Ms. Amber Clarke, from St. John’s University and Ms. Toni Aiello for their assistance in many ways.

[2] However, the freshwater quantities discussed here — to the best of my understanding — do not account for the quantity of offshore freshwater. See: Found: Giant Freshwater Deposits Hiding under the Sea, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/found-giant-freshwater-deposits-hiding-under-the-sea/. Accessed on 22 August 2023.

[3] The Water Cycle: Freshwater Storage, https://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclefreshstorage.html. Accessed on 24 June 2023.

[4] Shiklomanov, Igor A., “World Fresh Water Resources” in Gleick, Peter H. Water in Crisis: A Guide to the World’s Freshwater Resources; 1993.

[5] Id.

[6] United Nations Environmental Programme; The World’s International Freshwater Agreements: Historical Developments and Future Opportunities; p.1; in Atlas of International Freshwater Agreements, https://transboundarywaters.science.oregonstate.edu/sites/transboundarywaters.science.oregonstate.edu/files/Database/ResearchProjects/AtlasFreshwaterAgreements.pdf, 2002. Accessed on 24 June 2023.

[7] Transboundary waters | International Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’ 2005-2015, https://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/transboundary_waters.shtml. Accessed on 24 June 2023.

[8] A concerning event is happening deep in the Himalayan mountains: ‘[This will be felt around the world’ (thecoodown.com) https://www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/high-altitude-glaciers-himalayas-climate/. Accessed on 20 August 2023. Frozen freshwater resources such as Himalayan mountains, which form the cryosphere, are depleting at the accelerated rate due to climate change.

[9] Supra-regional commissions such as United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) https://unece.org/, Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) http://uneca.org/, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) http://www.unescap.org/, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) http://www.eclac.org/, and Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) http://www.escwa.un.org/ are worth exploring because just as water interacts with many aspects of life, many UN bodies interact with water. Among the vast availability of information, accessibility to valuable water resources related data, statistics, laws, and regional policies is dispersed.

[10] Additional information is available at http://www.ramsar.org/. Accessed on 24 June 2023.

[11] Additional information is available at http://www.unwatercoursesconvention.org/. Accessed on 24 June 2023.

[12] Ecolex, http://www.ecolex.org/start.php. Accessed on 24 June 2023.

[13] Draft articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers with commentaries (2008) could be of interest to researchers.

[14] International Freshwater Treaties Database, Accessed on 25 June 2023.

[15] Researchers may also want to consult Governance of shared waters : legal and institutional issues (2011) authored by Grethel Aguilar and Alejandro Iza.

[16] PDF version is available at International Law Association Reports of Conferences (1966).

[17] The Seoul Rules on International Groundwaters adopted by the ILA are available at 62 International Law Association Reports of Conferences 219. See 62 International Law Association Reports of Conferences 231 for discussion of International Water Resource Law.

[18] Bellagio “Model Agreement Concerning the Use of Transboundary Groundwaters”, https://www.internationalwaterlaw.org/documents/intldocs/Bellagio_Draft_Treaty.pdf. Accessed on 25 June 2023. Also available at 62 International Law Association Reports of Conferences 221. Revised and augmented version of the treaty by Hayton, Robert D. and Utton, Albert E.; Transboundary Groundwaters: The Bellagio Draft Treaty; Also accessible at 29 Nat Resources J. 3 (Summer 1989); p. 663. Accessed on 25 June 2023.

[19] Agreement between Finland and Sweden Concerning Transboundary Rivers, Accessed on 26 June 2023. Also, at 825 UNTS 272.

[20] See also: Agreement on a Finnish-Norwegian Transboundary Water Commission for a cryptic description. Note: as this is a bilateral agreement, and as mentioned previously, an English translation of the agreement remains elusive.

[21] For additional information see Irrigation in Southern and Eastern Asia in figures, AQUASTAT Survey, p. 111, 2011. Although the Commission is bilateral, the river water of two major river systems, namely the Ganges (also known as Ganga) and the Bramhaputra (alternately spelled as Brahmaputra), crosses the boundaries of China, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. See also: 1) 1977 Agreement on sharing of the Ganges waters at Farakka and on augmenting its flows (with schedule), 2) 1996 Treaty Between the government of the Republic of India and the government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh on Sharing of the Ganga/Ganges Waters at Farakka. All links in this endnote were accessed on 26 June 2023.

[22] See also: International Legal Materials, Vol. 8, No. 5 (SEPTEMBER 1969), pp. 905-909 for the PDF text (however, electronic access is limited to participating institutions). Accessed on 26 June 2023.

[23] See also: Tools for Transboundary Management of Water and Water Uses in Greater Geneva; 2022; pp 31-36. All links in this endnote were accessed on 28 June 2023.

[24] Informative flyer is available at http://www.ikse-mkol.org/fileadmin/media/user_upload/E/06_Publikationen/08_IKSE_Flyer/2016_ICPER-Flyer_ICPER.pdf. All links in this endnote were accessed on 29 June 2023.

[25] Treaty Between the United States and Great Britain Relating to Boundary Waters and Questions Arising Between the United States and Canada, Jan. 11, 1909, 36 Stat. 2448, T.S. No. 548. Accessed from https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llsl//llsl-c61/llsl-c61.pdf. Caution: Look for the image page numbered 2776 if you are accessing 36 Stat. 2448 from this URL. All links in this paragraph were accessed on 29 June 2023.

[26] See also: http://www.fao.org/faolex/results/details/en/?details=LEX-FAOC054529,

http://www.caee.utexas.edu/prof/mckinney/papers/aral/agreements/ICWC-Feb18-1992.pdf. All links in this endnote were accessed on 30 June 2023.

[27] See also: In-Depth Case Study for the Mekong River Basin: the 1995 Agreement on the Cooperation for Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin System. All links in this paragraph and endnote were accessed on 7 July 2023.

[28] Project Paper: Gambia River Basin Development Project (Omvg) prepared by the Agency for International Development in collaboration with Development Experience Clearing House (a good searchable website), offers an in-depth information about the project. All links in this paragraph and endnote were accessed on 30 June 2023.

[29] Treaty Between the Government of India and The Government of Pakistan, 419 UNTS 125, https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTs/Volume%20419/volume-419-I-6032-English.pdf. 1960 Concerning The Most Complete And Satisfactory Utilisation Of The Waters Of The Indus System Of Rivers. See also: Indus Water Treaty; World Affairs; Vol. 123, No. 4 (Winter, 1960), pp. 99-101 which includes helpful discussion; however, online access is with a subscription only. All links in this paragraph and endnote were accessed on 30 June 2023.

[30] For additional information see Irrigation in Southern and Eastern Asia in figures, AQUASTAT Survey, p. 129, 2011. Accessed on 30 June 2023.

[31] See Also: Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe Experience Brief (2003), for a superb discussion of geographical, political, and environmental issues in the region around the breakup of the USSR. All links in this endnote were accessed on 30 June 2023.

[32] Statute of the Uruguay River. No. 21425, Page 331. See also Institutions for International Freshwater Management, pp 25-27; The River Uruguay Executive Commission. All links in this endnote were accessed on 30 June 2023.