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WATER DIPLOMACYlivelihoods. Inland water ecosystems are subjected to massivechanges due to multiple pressures, and biodiversity is lost morerapidly than in other types of ecosystem. More integrated managementof freshwater ecosystems will help reduce negative impactsfrom competing pressures.Protecting biodiversity depends on sustainable water management.This requires good governance which, in turn, requireswater governance capacity. Without governance capacity, evengiven the greatest political will and motivation, poor managementpractices can persist leading to ecosystem degradation and reducedlivelihoods. To build governance capacity, effective tools need toprovide a sustainable connection between ecosystems and thosemanaging them. Water diplomacy bridges the gap between sustainablemanagement practices, good governance and water users atmultiple levels.Water governance and cooperationWater governance sets the ‘rules of the game’ for the way wateris managed. It determines how, or whether, water resources aremanaged sustainably. Poor water governance results in loss ofbiodiversity through degradation and over-allocation of waterresources, and leads to weaker and less resilient livelihoods andeconomic growth.Policies, laws and institutions are the three pillars of water governancewithin a country and in a transboundary basin, where they arecomplemented by the agreements negotiated between basin countries.For this governance to be effective, countries need to developtheir own water governance capacity through transparent, coherentand cost-efficient policies, laws and institutions.Experience from the IUCN Water and Nature Initiative showsthat water governance capacity is built most effectively where allstakeholders participate, with coordination at local, national andtransboundary levels.In practical terms, the coordinated development and reform ofpolicies, laws and institutions needed to build this capacity takesplace through the integration of several elements:• demonstrating tangible benefits from improved water resourcemanagement for social and economic development at local,national or river basin level• learning, capacity building and knowledge exchange amongdecision makers and stakeholders• multi-stakeholder dialogues and forums to build consensus andcoordinate decisions• support for national policy, legal and institutional reforms• international cooperation in transboundary basins.Water diplomacyEver since two Sumerian city-states signed the first known watertreaty in 2500 BC ending a water dispute along the Tigris River,water has been the subject of cooperation more often than conflict.Today, over 3,600 international water treaties exist.Water diplomacy enables countries to negotiate agreements onwater management. The importance of water for development andpoverty reduction at local levels means that agreements amongnational governments often do not lead, by themselves, to implementation.For transboundary agreements on water managementto work on the ground, they need the agreement of water usersat multiple levels of governance. Water diplomacy should be aprocess which operates under the authority of sovereign nationalIn the Sixaola basin, shared between Panama and Costa Rica, effortsto improve water governance capacity are paying offgovernments, requiring their ultimate agreement,but which also unlocks cooperation among multiplestakeholders, including municipalities and provinces.Working broadly as a multi-level governanceprocess, water diplomacy can better integrate governments’priorities for national resource security andeconomic growth while providing a means to integratebiodiversity conservation into frameworks forwater management.Water management is also a technical issue that isstrengthened by scientific knowledge and information.Effective water diplomacy is therefore the art ofbuilding and facilitating the convergence of technicalexpertise, information, stakeholder dialogue and localand international politics. It calls on national and localpoliticians, decision makers, scientific and technicalexperts to work together toward negotiated agreementson policies, laws and institutions that can be implementedfor transboundary water management.Building bridges for water cooperationIUCN’s Building River Dialogue and Governance(BRIDGE) project strengthens transboundary watercooperation by incorporating the interests of multiplestakeholders into dialogue and negotiation overtransboundary waters, enhancing participation andbuilding agreement between water users. This createsan environment and capacity where governments andstakeholders can work together to address priorities atlocal, national and regional levels. Water cooperationcan then deliver a broader set of solutions than is likelythrough negotiations constrained to high-level, stateto-stateprocesses.Image: ©IUCN\Nazareth Porras[ 25 ]