THE LEGAL DIMENSION OF INTERJURISDICTIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT

Abstract

The principles of international law governing the management of shared water basins have evolved considerably since the assertion of the Harmon Doctrine late in the last century. That evolution has been in the direction of greater acknowledgement of the rights of all basin states, first with respect to water apportionment and more recently with respect to water quality. The development of these principles has been influenced significantly by domestic law developed to resolve disputes within federal states.The management of interjurisdictional water bodies is of interest to lawyers not only in its own right, but also because of the tremendous influence it has had more generally on the development of international environmental law. For example, many of the principles proposed by the legal experts advising the Brundtland Commission are essentially derived from the legal rules that have developed over the years in the context of shared river basins. Similarly, however, there is a strong possibility that in the future the new principles of international environmental law - which stress an even greater interest of the global community in matters which might formerly have been considered as of purely bilateral or regional concern -will play an important role in the development of international water law.