The Role of International Law in Water Security: A Focus on Transboundary Groundwater
Document Type
Book Section
Publication Date
3-2025
ISBN
978-981-12-9985-8
DOI
10.1142/9789811291364_0006
Abstract
Historically, challenges to international water security have primarily been associated with transboundary surface waters. While water wars are rare, examples from practice and research show that there is a link between transboundary freshwater resources and international security, where disputes and conflicts related to the use, allocation, or protection of transboundary waters have seriously challenged water security. However, there are also examples of cooperation, namely over shared surface waters. While groundwater, especially in a transboundary context, has yet to be fully exploited around the world, the volume of water available to mankind from underground sources substantially exceeds the amount of water found in all of the freshwater lakes, rivers, and other surface water bodies. As the pressure on this vital source of freshwater increases, transboundary aquifers will also become the focus of water security challenges as they relate to their use, management, and conservation. The central hypothesis of this chapter is that development of international law applicable to transboundary groundwater resources can help improve global water security and prevent future conflicts. This chapter first describes the concept of water security and analyzes the link between freshwater resources and international security. It also provides examples of both water-related disputes and conflicts and successful cooperative mechanisms. The history of successful international agreements, though mostly related to surface waters, indicates that a preventative effect can be achieved especially if states conclude context-specific accords. Thus, the chapter argues that international water law can address challenges to water security and contribute to the mitigation of disputes and conflicts related to transboundary freshwater resources. More specifically, it maintains that this conclusion is similarly applicable to transboundary groundwater resources. Since international agreements addressing transboundary groundwater are generally rare, states should more intensively seek to conclude context-specific agreements on the management and allocation of shared groundwater to prevent future or mitigate already existing disputes and challenges to water security. In addition, international customary law applicable to transboundary groundwater needs to be explored in order to identify principles and trends in the law that can be used by nations for such agreements. International customary law can also fill legal gaps where states are reluctant to conclude international agreements.
First Page
127
Last Page
158
Num Pages
32
Volume Number
1
Series
World 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
Petr Stejskal & Gabriel Eckstein,
The Role of International Law in Water Security: A Focus on Transboundary Groundwater,
in
1
Cooperating Over Shared Freshwater Resources Using International Law
127
(Gabriel Eckstein eds., 2025).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar/2181
