International water law for transboundary aquifers – a global perspective

Raya Marina Stephan

Water law expert, Water International, Paris, France

Email: raya.stephan@yahoo.com

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https://doi.org/10.29258/CAJWR/2018-RI.v4-2/48-58.eng

Research Paper

Abstract

Today two global conventions, the Convention on the law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses (1997) and the Convention on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes are part of the available international legal framework for managing transboundary water resources. In addition to these two instruments, a specific text exists for transboundary aquifers: the Draft articles on the law of transboundary aquifers, annexed to two UN General Assembly resolutions on the topic. These three instruments apply to transboundary aquifers in different ways with differences in their scope, and numerous similarities in their principles. This paper will present the rules of international water law, as they apply to transboundary aquifers following from these instruments, with a specific focus on the draft articles.

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How to cite: Stephan, R. M. (2018). International water law for transboundary aquifers –a global perspective. Central Asian Journal of Water Research, 4(2), 48–58. https://doi.org/10.29258/cajwr/2018-ri.v4-2/48-58.eng

References

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Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses, (1997), 2005, United Nations.

Eckstein, G. and Sindico, F., 2014, The Law of Transboundary Aquifers: Many Ways of Going Forward, but Only One Way of Standing Still, Review of European Community and International Environmental Law, Vol. 23, No 1, pp. 32-42.

International Law Commission, 2008, Report of its sixtieth session, A/63/10, United Nations, New York.

McCaffrey S., 2010, Sovereignty and Cooperative Management ofShared Water Resources In a Time of Shrinking Availability: The Role of International Law, In Transboundary

Draft articles, transboundary aquifers, UN Watercourses Convention, UNECE Water Convention