Defining transboundary aquifers

(a) “aquifer” means a permeable water-bearing geological formation underlain by a less permeable layer and the water contained in the saturated zone of the formation;

(b) “aquifer system” means a series of two or more aquifers that are hydraulically connected;

(c) “transboundary aquifer” or “transboundary aquifer system” means respectively, an aquifer or aquifer system, parts of which are situated in different States;

(d) “aquifer State” means a State in whose territory any part of a transboundary aquifer or aquifer system is situated;

(e) “utilization of transboundary aquifers or aquifer systems” includes extraction of water, heat and minerals, and storage and disposal of any substance;

(f) “recharged aquifer” means an aquifer that regularly receives a non-negligible amount of contemporary (non-fossil) water recharge;

(g) “recharge zone” means the zone which supplies water to an aquifer, consisting of the catchment area of rainfall water and the area where such water flows to an aquifer by runoff on the ground and infiltration through soil;

(h) “discharge zone” means the zone where water originating from an aquifer flows to its outlets, such as a watercourse, a lake, an oasis, a wetland or an ocean.

Source: A Handbook for Integrated Water Resources
Management in the Basins of Transboundary Rivers,
Lakes and Aquifers

Agreements at the Global and Regional Levels

Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (New York, 1997) 

Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Helsinki, March 1992) 

Amendment to the Convention Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (2004) 

Protocol on Water and Health to the 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (London, June 1999) 

Protocol on Civil Liability and Compensation for Damage Caused by the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents on Transboundary Waters to the 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes and to the 1992 Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents (Kiev, 2003) 

Draft articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers (2008) 

Resolutions of the UN General Assembly

Resolution of the UN General Assembly A/RES/63/124 “The law of transboundary aquifers” (2009) 

Monographs and brochures

An Evaluation on the Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers (2012)  

Burchi S., Mechlem K. - Groundwater in International Law: Compilation of Treaties and Other Legal Instruments (2005) 

Eckstein G. - The Greening of Water Law: Managing Freshwater Resources for People and the Environment (2010) 

Foster S., Loucks D. (Eds) - Non-Renewable Groundwater Resources: A Guidebook on Socially Sustainable Management for Water-Policy Makers (2006) 

Groundwater for Emergency Situations. A framework document (2006) 

Internationally Shared (Transboundary) Aquifer Resources Management. Their significance and sustainable management (2001) 

Model Provisions on Transboundary Groundwaters (2014) 

UNECE - First Assessment of Transboundary Rivers, Lakes and Groundwaters in the UNECE region (2007)

UNECE - Second Assessment of transboundary rivers, lakes and groundwaters (2011)

Papers

Eckstein G.E. - Managing buried treasure across frontiers: the international Law of Transboundary Aquifers (2011) 

Eckstein G., Eckstein Y. - A Hydrogeological Approach to Transboundary Ground Water Resources and International Law (2003) 

Eckstein G., Eckstein Y. - International Water Law, Groundwater Resources and the Danube Dam Case (1998) 

Eckstein G. - A Hydrogeological Perspective of the Status of Ground Water Resources Under the UN Watercourse Convention (2005) 

Eckstein G. - Commentary on the U.N. International Law Commission's Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers (2007) 

Eckstein Y., Eckstein G. - Transboundary Aquifers: Conceptual Models for Development of International Law (2005) 

Eckstein G. - Managing Buried Treasure Across Frontiers: The International Law of Transboundary Aquifers (2011) 

Eckstein G. - Hydrologic Reality: International Water Law and Transboundary Groundwater Resources (1998) 

Fuentes X. - The Utilization of International Groundwater in General International Law 

Yamada Ch. - Codification of the Law of Transboundary Aquifers (Groundwaters) by the United Nations (2011) 

Theses

Jarvis W.T. - Transboundary Groundwater: Geopolitical Consequences, Commons Sense, and the Law of the Hidden Sea (2006) 

Matsumoto K. - Transboundary Groundwater and International Law:Past Practices and Current Implications (2002) 

Regulatory and procedural guidelines and reference information

A Handbook for Integrated Water Resources Management in the Basins of Transboundary Rivers, Lakes and Aquifers (2012) 

Reports

Managing the Invisible. Understanding and Improving Groundwater Governance / M. Wijnen, B. Augeard, B. Hiller, C. Ward, P. Huntjens (2012)