Water resource managementInternational watersRiver basin managementInternational cooperation

International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

English

Research Papers in Economics

Promoting cooperation through 
management of transboundary
water resources
Issue 8 - 2010
Conflict
IWMI’s research is challenging the conventional wisdom that conflict over water leads to war. Over the past 25 years, politicians, academics 
and journalists have frequently predicted that disputes over water would be a cause for future wars. The water wars hypothesis has its roots 
in earlier research carried out on a small number of transboundary rivers such as the Indus, Jordan and the Nile. These particular rivers were 
a focus because they had experienced water-related disputes. Specific events cited as evidence include Israel’s bombing of Syria’s attempts 
to divert the Jordan’s headwater, and military threats by Egypt against any country building dams in the upstream water of the Nile. However, 
while some links made between conflict and water were valid, they did not necessarily represent the norm.
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WaterM anagement
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While there has been conflict related to water in a handful of 
international basins, in the rest of the world’s approximately 
300 shared basins the record has been largely positive.
Cooperation
IWMI scientists working in partnership with Aaron Wolf at 
Oregon State University have been investigating the evidence 
behind the water war predictions. Their findings show that, 
while it is true that there has been conflict related to water in a 
handful of international basins, in the rest of the world’s 
approximately 300 shared basins the record has been largely 
positive. This is perhaps exemplified by the hundreds of treaties 
in place guiding equitable water use between nations sharing 
water resources. The institutions created by these agreements 
can, in fact, be one of the most important factors in ensuring 
cooperation rather than conflict.
“We found that places that generally cooperated with each 
other, usually also cooperated over water. In places where 
there were conflicts, such as the Middle East, there were 
often other causes for disagreement. In other words, the 
water situation didn’t help but it wasn’t the main cause of 
war.” Aaron Wolf, Professor of Geography, Oregon 
State University.  
Earlier, most literature on transboundary water began with 
statements about the imminence of water wars. Now much 
research starts off by saying that the water wars hypothesis has 
been disproven, or at least requires cautious consideration. 
Shift in emphasis
This shift in thinking is important because it has helped direct 
resources towards developing institutions that can effectively 
manage the world’s major rivers collaboratively. Success has the 
potential to improve lives for millions of people who live within the 
catchments of the world’s major rivers. IWMI’s research efforts on 
transboundary rivers are now focused on understanding how these 
shared resources can best be managed in a peaceful way. For 
example, IWMI researchers have looked at what institutions best 
suit particular, developing-country contexts. 
“In Africa you have almost no water development and low levels of 
economic development, but we found the treaties in Africa to be 
almost identical to those you’d find in Europe,” says Mark Giordano, 
Head of IWMI’s research theme on Water and Society. “This is 
probably because projects are often driven by donors more familiar 
with what works in their own physical and socioeconomic contexts. 
In many cases, transboundary water management could be much 
more effective if it better suited the geographical, hydrological and 
socioeconomic conditions of the nations concerned.”
Educating future treaty-makers
IWMI has presented its findings to policymakers in numerous 
conferences, interviews and publications such as a chapter on 
transboundary institutions in the book, Share: Managing water 
across boundaries, published by the International Union for 
Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The chapter covers the functions of 
transboundary institutions; how they can be designed to promote 
cooperation; overcome internal disputes and ways of coping with 
the uncertainty created by climate change; and how their 
effectiveness can be monitored. 
Share is helping inform the next generation of water specialists 
about how they can foster cooperation through shared water 
resource management.
For more information
Oregon State University’s Program in Water Conflict Management and 
Transformation (PWCMT):
www.transboundarywaters.orst.edu/
The African Transboundary Water Law:
www.africanwaterlaw.org/ 
Share: Managing water across boundaries (book):
data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/2008-016.pdf
Improving the management of land and water resources for food, livelihoods and the environment 
All IWMI Publications are available online free of charge at www.iwmi.org/Publications
Comments and questions are welcome. Please contact us at: IWMI-Publications@cgiar.org
Publications Unit, International Water Management Institute, PO Box 2075, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Tel: +94 11 2880000 Fax: +94 11 2786854
www.iwmi.org
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WaterM anagement
International
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Promoting cooperation through management of transboundary water resources

http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/Success_Stories/PDF/2010/Issue%208%20-%20Promoting_cooperation_through_effective_management_of_shared_water_resources.pdf

Promoting cooperation through management of transboundary water resources

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