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Abstract
Transboundary water-resources management is usually characterized by prior existence of conflicts. The Agreement on Guarani Aquifer, signed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, is one of the few treaties signed in a precautionary context. Although the Plata Basin has faced many conflicts regarding surface waters, there are no conflicts in the use of shared groundwater. This paper focuses on analyzing the structure of this agreement and its capacity to prevent future conflicts and deepen the cooperation between the states.
Notes
1. Programme for the Development of a Regional Strategy for the Utilization of the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System was established between Chad, Egypt, Libya, and Sudan. Agreement No. 1 (Terms of reference for the monitoring and exchange of groundwater information of the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System) and Agreement No. 2 (Terms of reference for monitoring and data sharing) were signed in Tripoli, on 5 October 2000.
2. Establishment of a Consultation Mechanism for the Northwestern Sahara Aquifer System (SASS) signed between Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia at the end of 2002 and the beginning of 2003.
3. Acuífero Botucatu is one of the Guarani Aquifer System geological formations. The denomination Guarani Aquifer was approved by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay only in May 1996, and intended to include all the different geological formations that are part of the system, as well as honour the Guarani indigenous peoples who live in the area (Borghetti et al. Citation2004).
4. Some of the contributions of this project include: the Technical scientific journey on the management of the Botucatu International Aquifer (1995), the International Workshop on the MERCOSUR Giant Aquifer and the first scientific-technical base of this Aquifer (Borghetti et al. Citation2004).
5. Subsequently, the results of technical cooperation and exchanges between researchers from Argentina and Uruguay were published in Montano et al. (Citation1998).
6. This project culminated in a joint project called Pilot System of Information for Environmental Management of Groundwater Resources in the Outcrop Area of the Guarani Aquifer System in the State of Sao Paulo.
7. The fact that the Guarani Aquifer Project was financed by international and foreign institutions fostered a series of unscientific rumours that warned about the vested interests of those institutions and reinforced a discourse of nationalism. These concerns were prompted by the fact that international companies were contracted to prepare major studies of the project, away from the academic centres in the four countries, and the dissemination of some documents only in English, a language not officially spoken in any of the countries.
8. The pilot projects were: (1) Concordia (Argentina) / Salto (Uruguay); (2) Rivera (Uruguay) / Santana do Livramento (Brazil); (3) Encarnación – Cuidad del Este – Caaguazú (Paraguay); and (4) Ribeirão Preto (Brazil). The first two sought a better understanding of issues linked to the management of transboundary groundwater and the others looked for developing management strategies in a groundwater-vulnerability context (presence of recharge areas, risk of contamination or overexploitation).
9. In the second half of the 1980s, Brazil and Argentina began to work more directly to establish a multilateral body that would facilitate and promote trade between countries of South America. This regional experience of integration was embodied in a customs union, called MERCOSUR, for the free movement of goods. MERCOSUR has a legal personality in international law and intergovernmental decision-making capacity. This means that decisions taken in this sphere must be incorporated into domestic legal systems of States Parties to enter into force.
10. In 2006, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela signed the Protocol of Accession to MERCOSUR. Bolivia (1996), Chile (1996), Peru (2003), Colombia (2004) and Ecuador (2004) are associate members of MERCOSUR.
11. The Common Market Council is the organ of MERCOSUR that holds the legal personality of the block. It is responsible for the conduct of policy decisions that ensure the achievement of MERCOSUR's objectives. It is composed of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Economics, or their equivalents, from each country.
12. The Common Market Group is the executive organ of MERCOSUR. It is composed of 16 members, four from each country. Its assignments are listed in Article 14, XIV of the Protocol of Ouro Preto (POP).
13. The MERCOSUR Trade Commission is designed to assist the Common Market Group and ensure the implementation of instruments that lead to the functioning of the Customs Union (Articles 16, 18 and 21 of the POP).
14. The Parliament of MERCOSUR replaces the Joint Parliamentary Commission – Protocol Establishing the Parliament of MERCOSUR (MERCOSUR/CMC/DEC. 23/05).
15. The Consulting Economic Social Forum is an auxiliary organ representing economic and social sectors. It is composed of an equal number of representatives of the States Parties. Its function is purely advisory.
16. The Administrative Secretariat, based in Montevideo, Uruguay, is headed by a Director, a member of one of the State Parties. The Director is elected for a rotating two-year term by the Common Market Group, appointed by the Common Market Council, and is not eligible for re-election.
17. Treaty for the Establishment of a Common Market between the Argentine Republic, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Republic of Paraguay and the Republic of Uruguay (Tratado de Asunción). Available from: http://www.mre.gov.py/dependencias/tratados/MERCOSUR/registro%20MERCOSUR/MERCOSURprincipal.htm.
18. This Agreement was approved on 21 June 2001, after 10 years of negotiation and successive revisions. This is the most important environmental legal instrument of MERCOSUR, which reaffirmed the principles already contained in the Declaration of Rio de Janeiro (1992), excluding the precautionary principle. It came into force on 23 June 2004 and is guided by general statements and principles of international environmental law, such as sustainable development, cooperation, public participation and the need to improve and harmonize national environmental regulations.
19. The agreement's main objectives are: to promote cooperation and assistance in cases of emergencies that may jeopardize the environment and population, to harmonize procedures for acting in these cases and to promote the exchange of information. Nevertheless, the instrument has not entered into force.
20. The draft text of this Additional Protocol can be found at: http://www.ambiente.gov.ar/archivos/ web/MERCOSUR/File/xxxii anexo11.pdf
21. Helsinki Rules, 1966. Available from: http://www.colsan.edu.mx/investigacion/aguaysociedad /proyectofrontera/Helsinki%20Rules%201966.pdf.
22. Berlin Rules, 2004. Available from: http://www.cawater-info.net/library/eng/l/berlin_rules.pdf.
23. According to Article 36, the Convention needs 35 signatories to enter into force. For up-to-date information see: http://untreaty.un.org/.
24. The case of groundwater in the Danube Basin is a good example. While most of the groundwater in the basin flows parallel to the river toward the Black Sea, a small portion flows in a different direction and serves as the source of the River Aach, which is located in the Rhine Basin. For more information see Mechlem (Citation2003).
25. Many authors criticize this denomination since confinement is a hydraulic state and is not related to the characteristic of being connected or related to surface waters. The correct term would be non-recharging aquifers.
26. The UN Resolution 63/124 is available on the Official Documents System of the United Nations website at: http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N08/478/23/ PDF/N0847823.pdf?OpenElement.
27. The full text of the Guarani Aquifer Agreement is available at the Brazilian International Affairs Ministry: http://www.itamaraty.gov.br/sala-de-imprensa/notas-a-imprensa/acordo-sobre-o-aquifero-guarani.
28. Binational Commission for the development of the Bermejo River Basin and Rio Grande de Tarija; Tri-National Commission for the Development of the Pilcomayo River Basin; Binational Commission Bridge Colonia Buenos Aires (COBAICO); Administrative Commission of the Río de la Plata (CARP); Intergovernmental Coordinating Committee Countries of the Plata Basin (CIC); Salto Grande Technical Mixed Commission (CTMSG); and the Administrative Commission of the River Uruguay (CARU).