Governance of Transboundary Aquifers: Balancing Efficiency, Equity and Sustainability

 1. Parts of this article were adapted from contract work and a subsequent article by David B. Brooks and Julie Trottier on the water component of a draft Final Status Agreement between Israel and Palestine. A paper on this work appears in the Journal of Hydrology (382 (1–4), pp. 103–114, June 2010).

Abstract

Though most rules developed for governance of transboundary surface water will also apply to transboundary aquifers, adjustment is necessary to account for, among other things, paucity of data about aquifers, their sensitivity to contamination, and their potential to be treated as open access resources. This article explores those differences, and then suggests approaches to building institutions who can implement the rules. Experience shows that it is better to focus on future needs rather than past uses, to give priority to protection of the aquifer, and to use market instruments as tools to achieve rather than to propose results.

Notes

 1. Parts of this article were adapted from contract work and a subsequent article by David B. Brooks and Julie Trottier on the water component of a draft Final Status Agreement between Israel and Palestine. A paper on this work appears in the Journal of Hydrology (382 (1–4), pp. 103–114, June 2010).

 2. For what more closely approximates a review paper, see the report on transboundary groundwaters (sic.) by the United Nations International Law Commission (2004), which contains a bibliography and case studies of the Nubian sandstone aquifer system, the Guarani aquifer system, the Franco-Swiss Genevese aquifer, and the Mexico–US border. Although much longer than the typical review article, the book edited by Darnault (2008) could serve in the same role. For a review article on the development and application of international law for transboundary aquifers, see Eckstein & Eckstein (2003).

 3. http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/Israel-Jordan%20Peace%20Treaty

 4. http://www.igrac.net/publications/100; accessed 14 July 2009.

 5. http://www.igrac.net/publications/320; accessed 14 July 2009

 6. http://www.mahometaquiferconsortium.org/

 7. http://www.internationalwaterlaw.org/blog/

 8. Respectively, vol. 28, no. 2, 2003, and vol. 43, no. 5, 2005.

 9. http://www.igrac.net/publications/101; accessed 08 Nov. 2009

10. http://www.colsan.edu.mx/investigacion/aguaysociedad/proyectofrontera/Helsinki%20Rules%201966.pdf