Abstract
The Río de la Plata drainage basin is one of the five greatest drainage basins in the world with special particularities to be recognized and admired. It is formed by the discharge of waters from five countries — Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia and Paraguay — extending over some 3,100,000 km2.1 The basin as a whole has a mean annual precipitation of 1,100 mm ranging from desert zones in the Upper Bermejo river basin to sub-tropical regions in the Upper Paraguay river. Such a diversity derives from the interconnection of a number of sub-basins. Each sub-basin — the Tieté, Paranapanema, Paraná, Iguazú, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bermejo, Pilcomayo, Iguazú, Salado del Norte, and Río de la Plata rivers — has its own rich characteristics and their confluence extends geographically until reaching the common terminus of the Río de la Plata.2 These sub-basins spread over extensive territories of some of the basin countries, and their features will be briefly described to provide the physical characteristics that will introduce the institutional and legal framework.3
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Argentina 790,000 km2, Bolivia 205,000 km2, Brazil 1,415,000 km2, Paraguay 410,000 km2, Uruguay 150,000 km2, Totalling 3,100,000 km2. Source: http://www.ina.gov.ar.
Technical data from the La Plata Basin Case Study, Second World Water Assessment Report (WWAR), with the most updated information currently available.
Del Castillo Laborde, L (1999) The Plata Basin Institutional Framework. In: Management of Latin American river basins: Amazon, Plata, and São Francisco, AK Biswas, NV Cordeiro, BPF Braga, and C Tortajada. United Nations University Press, Tokyo, 175–204.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bolivia and Paraguay (1935) Peace Protocol signed in Buenos Aires on 12 June 1935. Republic of Paraguay, National Publisher, Asunción
Brazil (1963), Letter dated 27 March 1963 addressed to the OAS Secretary General about the rights and duties of riparian States. Doc.OAS/ser.G/VI.C/INF
Declaration of Montevideo concerning the Industrial and Agricultural Use of International-Rivers (1933), Seventh Inter-American Conference, 24 December 1933, United Nations. Document A/5409, p 212
Del Castillo Laborde L (1999) The Plata Basin Institutional Framework. In: Biswas AK, Cordeiro NV, Braga BPF, Tortajada C (eds) Management of Latin American River Basins: Amazon, Plata, and São Francisco. United Nations University Press, Tokyo, pp 175–204
Del Castillo Laborde L (2005) The Río de la Plata and its Maritime Front Legal Regime. Argentine Council for Foreign Relations (CARI), Buenos Aires (In Spanish). Published in English in 2007 by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden and Boston, MA
Draft Convention on the Industrial and agricultural utilization of international rivers and lakes. Approved by the Interamerican Juridical Committee, IJC-CJI, Resolution X of November 30, 1965 OAS. Official Documents/OEA Documentos Oficiales, OEA/Ser,I/VI.CIJ.75Rev, pp 140–156; Doc. OEA/ser.I/VI.2, CIJ-79, Rio de Janeiro
Helsinki Rules on the Uses of the Waters of International Rivers, adopted by the International Law Association at its 52nd Conference, held at Helsinki in August 1966. Report of the Committee on the Uses of the Waters of International Rivers (1967) International Law Association, London
Kirgis FL (Jr.) (1983) Prior Consultation in International Law: A Study of State Practice. University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville
Regional Conference of the Countries of the Río de la Plata (1941), January 27–February 6, Final Act 6 February 1941. Montevideo, Florensa Printer, 1941
Resolutions of the Foreign Affairs Ministers of the Río de la Plata Basin, CIC, General Secretariat, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Río de la la Plata Basin Treaty or La Plata Basin Treaty (1969) UNTS 875 (1973), p 11–13
4th World Water Forum Ministerial Declaration (2006) Mexico City, 22 March 2006. http://www.worldwaterforum4.org
Plata Basin Projects Websites
World Water Assessment Programme. http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap
World Water Assessment Report. http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap/wwdr/
contents.shtml
Guaraní Aquifer Project. http://www.sg-guarani.org/index/index.php
Upper Bermejo and Grande de Tarija Project. http://www.cbbermejo.org.ar/
Gran Chaco American Ecosystem. www.gefonline.org/projectDetails.cfm?projID=2505
Deltamerica Project. http://www.iwrn.net/; http://brasil.rirh.net/deltamerica.php
Pantanal-Upper Paraguay Project. http://www.ana.gov.br/gefap/
Río de la Plata Environmental Protection Project. http://www.freplata.org/
Pilcomayo River Project. http://www.pilcomayo.net/
Sustainable management of wetland resources. http://users.exa.unicen.edu.ar/~wetland/regwet/Forestry development. http://www.sagpya.gov.ar/new/00/forestacion/indiproy/indiproy. htm
Hydrological determinants of agriculture in Latin America. http://www.intacya.org/pages/procee.htm#Project
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
del Castillo Laborde, L. (2008). The Rio de la Plata River Basin: The Path Towards Basin Institutions. In: Varis, O., Biswas, A.K., Tortajada, C. (eds) Management of Transboundary Rivers and Lakes. Water Resources Development and Management. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-74928-8_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-74928-8_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-74926-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-74928-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)