A Historical Overview of the Evolution and Broadening of International Water Law

Authors

Laura Movilla Paterio, University of Vigo
Gabriel Eckstein, Texas A&M University School of LawFollow

Document Type

Book Section

Publication Date

3-2025

ISBN

978-981-12-9985-8

DOI

10.1142/9789811291364_0002

Abstract

The development of international water law can be traced back to early civilizations that settled around the banks of rivers and lakes around the world. As they expanded their efforts to domesticate crops, build fluvial trade routes, and provide clean water to their populations, these communities developed complex rules for the navigation, allocation, and use of waters that cross political frontiers. This, in turn, sparked the development of what we now call international water law. Over time, as these fluvial civilizations grew and evolved, so did the law. It was adapted and modified in relation to changes in societal values, technological and political developments, and even environmental pressures. And in the past few hundred years, it was adapted to fit the new international legal order in which nation-states functioned as the main subjects of international law, and sovereignty became their mainstay.

This chapter provides a historical overview of the development and evolution of international water law. It briefly reviews the early navigation-focusing eras and then concentrates on the more modern permutations of the law and its emphasis on non-navigational uses, such as for irrigation, energy production, manufacturing, drinking water, and the environment. It also considers how the law has expanded and adapted in response to new priorities and discoveries, such as wetlands and unconventional freshwater sources, as well as how the regime interacts with other international legal regimes, including international environmental law, human rights, and the sustainable development goals.

First Page

9

Last Page

40

Num Pages

32

Volume Number

1

Series

World Scientific Handbook of Transboundary Water ManagementWorld Scientific Handbook of Transboundary Water Management

Publisher

World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

Editor

Gabriel Eckstein

Series Editor

Shlomi Dinar

Book Title

Cooperating Over Shared Freshwater Resources Using International Law

Recommended Citation

Laura M. Paterio & Gabriel Eckstein, A Historical Overview of the Evolution and Broadening of International Water Law, in 1 Cooperating Over Shared Freshwater Resources Using International Law 9 (Gabriel Eckstein eds., 2025).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar/2180