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FACTS AND FIGURES ON TRANSBOUNDARY BASINS The International Basin Register from the Oregon State University (United States) listed 263 transboundary basins in 2002. Approximately one third of them is shared by more than 2 countries, and 19 involve 5 or more sovereign states. A total of 145 nations include territory within transboundary basins, and 21 lie entirely within transboundary basins. The Danube basin is shared between the highest number of nations, with 18 riparian states (Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine). The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses is one post-Rio accomplishment that specifically focuses on transboundary water resources. It codifies many of the principles deemed essential by the international community for the management of shared water resources, such as equitable and reasonable utilization of waters with specific attention to vital human needs, protection of the aquatic environment and the promotion of cooperative management mechanisms. The document also incorporates provisions concerning data and information exchange and mechanisms for conflict resolution. Water crossing international boundaries can cause tensions between nations that share the basin. While the tension is not likely to lead to warfare, early coordination between riparian states can help prevent potential conflicts. Despite the potential for dispute in transboundary basins, the record of cooperation historically overwhelms the record of acute conflict over international resources. The total number of water-related events between nations, of any magnitude, are likewise weighted towards cooperation: 507 conflict-related events, versus 1,228 cooperative ones, implying that violence over water is not strategically rational, effective or economically viable. In the past 50 years, approximately 200 treaties have been developed addressing non-navigational issues of water management, including flood control, hydropower projects or allocations for consumptive or non-consumptive uses in international basins. Once international institutions are in place, they are tremendously resilient over time, even between otherwise hostile riparian nations, and even when conflict is waged over other issues. Effective institutional management structures incorporate a certain level of flexibility, allowing for public input, changing basin priorities and new information and monitoring technologies. The adaptability of management structures must also extend to non-signatory riparian states, by incorporating provisions addressing their needs, rights and potential accession.
Information from: Source: World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP), September 2005
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