Abstract
Governance principles concerning the development and utilization of freshwater resources derive from a variety of factors: historical and current patterns of usage, cultural and administrative norms and practices, and legal principles and policies. While governance of domestic surface water has benefitted from millennia of evolving practice, the legal principles regarding the development and utilization of transboundary freshwater resources emerged only during the mid-20th century and were codified towards the end of that century. The emergence of general rules and principles governing the use of groundwater resources is more recent still, as their systematic development began much later than the development of surface water. Similarly, the governance frameworks for unconventional water resources (UWR) are not yet well-developed, and legal gaps in regulating their exploitation and use have not yet been filled. This chapter presents an overview of legal theories and principles that are relevant to the design of the governance framework for both domestic and transboundary UWRs. The chapter focuses on legal aspects and attempts to predict how rights and obligations for various forms of UWR will emerge under current principles and practices.
Christina Leb: The views presented in this article are those of the author alone and in no way reflect the position of the World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or any of its member countries.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abbott KW, Keohane RO, Moravcsik A, Slaughter A-M, Snidal D (2000) The concept of legalization. Int Organ 54(3):401–419. https://doi.org/10.1162/002081800551271
Akhmouch A, Clavreul D, Glas P (2018) Introducing the OECD principles on water governance. J Water Int 43(1):5–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2017.1407561
Alliance for Water Stewardship (2020) About the Alliance for Water Stewardship. https://a4ws.org/about/. Accessed 31 July 2020
Aviram R, Katz D, Shmueli D (2014) Desalination as a game-changer in transboundary hydro-politics. J Water Policy 16(4):609–624. https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2014.106
Beckman RC, McCreath M, Roach JA, Sun Z (eds) (2019) High seas governance. Brill Nijhoff, Leiden, Netherland. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004373303
Birnie P, Boyle A, Redgewell C (2009) International law and the environment, 3rd edn. Oxford University Press, New York
Brown Weiss E (1990) Our rights and obligations to future generations for the environment. AJIL 84:198–207. https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/1627/
Corbridge JN, Moses RJ (1968) Weather modification: law and administration. Nat Resour J 8(2):207–235. https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nrj/vol8/iss2/2/
Friedrich K, Ikeda K, Tessendorf SA, French JR, Rauber RM, Geerts B, Parkinson S (2020) Quantifying snowfall from orographic cloud seeding. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 117(10):5190–5195. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1917204117
GEF-UNDP-IMO GloBallast Partnerships Programme (2017) The globallast story: reflections from a global family: globallast monograph no. 25. International Maritime Organization; United Nations Development Programme; Global Environment Facility, London UK.
Hardin G (1968) The tragedy of the commons. Science 162(3859):1243–1248. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.162.3859.1243
Honniball AN (2016) The exclusive jurisdiction of flag states: a limitation on pro-active port states? J Int J Mar Coast Law 31:499–530. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718085-12341410
ICJ (International Court of Justice) (1996) Legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons, advisory opinion, ICJ reports, 226ff. https://www.icj-cij.org/en/case/95
ICJ (International Court of Justice) (1997) Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros project (Hungary/Slovakia), Judgment, ICJ reports, 7ff. https://www.icj-cij.org/en/case/92/judgments
ICJ (International Court of Justice) (2010) Case concerning Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay (Argentina v. Uruguay), Judgment, ICJ reports, 14ff. https://www.icj-cij.org/public/files/case-related/135/135-20100420-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf
Jackson JH (2003) Sovereignty-modern: a new approach to an outdated concept. Am J Int Law 97(4):782–802. https://doi.org/10.2307/3133680
Jiménez A, Saikia P, Giné R, Avello P, Leten J, Lymer BL, Ward R (2020) Unpacking water governance: a framework for practitioners. Water 12(3):827–848. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12030827
Jones E, Qadir M, van Vliet MTH, Smakhtin V, Kang S (2019) The state of desalination and brine production: a global outlook. J Sci Total Environ 657:1343–1356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.076
Lammers JG (1984) Pollution of international rivers: a search for substantive rules and principles of law. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht, Lancaster
Leb C (2013) Cooperation in the law of transboundary water resources. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK
Levin Z, Noam Halfon N, Alpert P (2010) Reassessment of rain enhancement experiments and operations in Israel including synoptic considerations. J Atmos Res 97:513–525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2010.06.011
Martin-Nagle R (2011) Fossil aquifers: a common heritage of mankind. J Energy Environ Law 2:39–60
Martin-Nagle R (2020a). Governance of offshore freshwater resources. Brill Nijhoff, Leiden, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004421042
Martin-Nagle R (2020b) Offshore freshwater aquifers: toward equitable distribution. Wires Water 7(5):e1463. https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1463
McCaffrey S (2007) The law of international watercourses: non-navigational uses, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, New York
McIntyre O (2019) Environmental protection and the ecosystem approach. In: McCaffrey S, Leb C, Denoon R (eds) Research handbook on international water law. Edward Elgar Publishing, pp 126–145
Megdal SB, Eden S, Shamir E (2017) Water governance, stakeholder engagement, and sustainable water resources management. J Water 9(3):190–196. https://doi.org/10.3390/w9030190
Mickelson K (1993) Rereading trail smelter. Canad Yearb Int Law 31:219–233
Neto S, Camkin J, Fenemor A, Tan P, Baptista JM, Ribeiro, M, Elfithri R (2018) OECD Principles on Water Governance in practice: an assessment of existing frameworks in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and South America. J Water Int 43:60–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2018.1402650
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) (2015) OECD principles on water governance. https://www.oecd.org/governance/oecd-principles-on-water-governance.htm
Onorato WT (1968) Apportionment of an international common petroleum deposit. Int Comp Law Q 17:85–101
Ostrom E (1990) Governing the commons: the evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511807763
Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (adopted 4 October 1991, entered into force 14 January 1998) 402 UNTS 71, 30 ILM 1455.
Quilleré-Majzoub F (2004) À qui appartiennent les nuages ? Essai de définition d’un statut des nuages en droit international public. J Annuaire Français De Droit International 50:653–667. https://doi.org/10.3406/afdi.2004.3813
Quinton S (2018 February) Why ‘Cloud Seeding’ is increasingly attractive to the thirsty west. Pew Trusts. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2018/02/20/why-cloud-seeding-is-increasingly-attractive-to-the-thirsty-west
Reed MS, Graves A, Dandy N, Posthumus H, Hubacek K, Morris J, Stringer LC (2009) Who’s in and why? A typology of stakeholder analysis methods for natural resource management. J Environ Manag 90(5):1933–1949. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2009.01.001
Roth B (2004) The enduring significance of state sovereignty. Fla Law Rev 56:1017–1050. https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/lawfrp/188/
Simms V (2010) Making the rain: cloud seeding, the imminent freshwater crisis, and international law. Int Lawyer 44(2):915–937
Sirinskiene A (2009) The status of precautionary principle: moving towards a rule of customary international law. Jurisprudence 4(118):349–364
Spellman FR, Stoudt ML (2013) The handbook of geoscience. The Scarecrow Press Inc., Lanham, Maryland
Stern PC (2011) Design principles for global commons: natural resources and emerging technologies. Int J Commons 5(2):213–232. https://doi.org/10.18352/ijc.305.
UNCED (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development) (1992, August) Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, UN Doc. A/CONF.151/26 (vol. I)
UNCHE (United Nations Conference on the Human Environment) (1992) Stockholm declaration on the human environment. In: Report of the united nations conference on the human environment, Stockholm, June 1972. United Nation, New York, pp 5–16
UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) (1992, May) United Nations Treaty Collection 1771 UNTS 165, New York
United National General Assembly (UNGA) (1962) Resolution 1803 (XVII) on the “Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources”. Accessed 14 Dec 1962
UNWCC (United Nations War Crimes Commission) (1997, May) Convention on the law of non-navigational uses of international watercourses.United Nations War Crimes Commission UN Doc. A/RES/51/299, New York
UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) (1992, March) Convention on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes, Helsinki.UNECE Water Convention 31 ILM 1312, Geneva, Switzerland
Vélez-León A (2017) Rain on demand: regulating weather modification throughout the United States. George Wash J Energy Environ Law 8(2):148–162
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Martin-Nagle, R., Leb, C. (2022). Governance of Unconventional Water Resources. In: Qadir, M., Smakhtin, V., Koo-Oshima, S., Guenther, E. (eds) Unconventional Water Resources . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90146-2_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90146-2_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-90145-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-90146-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)