Water for people.pdf - WHO Thailand Digital Repository

S H A R I N G W A T E R : D E F I N I N G A C O M M O N I N T E R E S T / 313relations bad and bad relations worse. Threats and disputes haveraged across boundaries with relations as diverse as those betweenIndians and Pakistanis and between Americans and Canadians. Waterwas the last and most contentious issue resolved in negotiations overa 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, and was relegated to‘final status’ negotiations – along with other difficult issues such asJerusalem and refugees – between Israel and the Palestinians.Equally, transboundary waters, despite their complexities, canalso act as a unifier in basins where relatively strong institutions arein place. The historical record shows that international waterdisputes do get resolved, even between bitter enemies, and even asconflicts erupt over other issues. The Senegal River in West Africaprovides an example of a functioning institution created in 1972 todeal with issues surrounding competition for water (see box 12.7).Some of the most vociferous enemies around the world havenegotiated water agreements or are in the process of doing so, andthe institutions they have created frequently prove to be resilient overtime and during periods of otherwise strained relations. The MekongCommittee, for example, has functioned since 1957, and exchangeddata throughout the Viet Nam War. Secret talks have been heldbetween Israel and Jordan since the unsuccessful Johnstonnegotiations of 1953/55, even as these riparian states until onlyFigure 12.2: Events related to transboundary water basins5004003002001000-7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7-7 Formal war-6 Extensive military acts-5 Small-scale millitary acts-4 Political/military hostile acts-3 Diplomatic/economic hostile acts-2 Strong/official verbal hostility-1 Mild/unofficial verbal hostility0 Neutral, non-significant acts1 Mild verbal support2 Official verbal support3 Cultural, scientific agreement4 Non-millitary econ., techno., agreement5 Millitary, econ., strategic support6 International water treaty7 Unification into one nationAlthough transboundary water resources can be fodder for hostility, the record ofcooperation is vastly superior to that of acute conflict, that is to say, water is muchmore a vector of cooperation than a source of conflict.Source: Wolf et al., forthcoming.Map 12.3: Transboundary basins of the world and the number of associated treaties0 1–2 3–5 6–10 11–15 16–20(Number of treaties)This map shows the location of transboundary catchments and the number of treaties associated with each. Nearly all international basins have established treaties tofacilitate and legislate in some way the sharing of the resource. The distribution of these cooperative events indicates a broad spectrum of issue types, including quantity,quality, economic development, hydropower and joint management.Source: Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database, Oregon State University, 2002.