Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T21:17:46.470Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 9 - Management of Transboundary Waters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2021

Ariel Dinar
Affiliation:
University of California, Riverside
Yacov Tsur
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Get access

Summary

The chapter surveys the literature and approaches that deal with the economics and politics of managing internationally shared water resources (aka transboundary water). Principles that are relevant to the analysis of management of shared international water are discussed and demonstrated. One aspect that is unique to international water is the use of agreements between all or part of the riparian states that share the basin. The chapter introduces several means by which cooperation among the riparian states is defined and calculated, using the information embedded in the treaties that they signed. The chapter provides also an example, applied to the case of the Blue Nile Basin, of the effect of using certain allocation methods on the welfare of the river basin riparian states, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt, and its effects on the stability of their allocation agreement.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Economics of Water Resources
A Comprehensive Approach
, pp. 190 - 206
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allan, J. A., Malkawi, A. H., and Tsur, Y.. 2014. Red Sea – Dead Sea Water Conveyance Study Program. Study of Alternatives. Final Report. Executive Summary and Main Report. World Bank Publications, Washington, DC. Available at http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTREDSEADEADSEA/Resources/5174616-1416839444345/SoA-FINAL_March_2014.pdf.Google Scholar
Ambec, S., Dinar, A., and McKinney, D., 2013. Water Sharing Agreements Sustainable to Reduced Flows, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 66(3), 639655.Google Scholar
Ambec, S., and Ehlers, L.. 2008a. Cooperation and Equity in the River Sharing Problem. In: Dinar, A., Albiac, J., and Sánchez-Soriano, J. (eds.), Game Theory and Policy-Making in Natural Resources and the Environment. London: Routledge, pp. 112131.Google Scholar
Ambec, S., and Ehlers, L.. 2008b. Sharing a River among Satiable Agents. Games and Economic Behavior, 64(1), 3550.Google Scholar
Ambec, S., and Sprumont, Y.. 2002. Sharing a River. Journal of Economic Theory, 107(2), 453462.Google Scholar
Ansink, E., and Ruijs, A.. 2008. Climate Change and the Stability of Water Allocation Agreements. Environmental and Resource Economics, 41(2), 249266.Google Scholar
Ansink, E., and Weikard, H.-P.. 2009. Contested Water Rights. European Journal of Political Economy, 25(2), 247260.Google Scholar
Ansink, E., and Weikard, H.-P.. 2012. Sequential Sharing Rules for River Sharing Problems. Social Choice and Welfare, 38(2), 187210.Google Scholar
Beaumont, P. 2000. The 1997 UN Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses: Its Strengths and Weaknesses from a Water Management Perspective and the Need for New Workable Guidelines. Water Resources Development, 16(4), 475495.Google Scholar
Bennett, L., Howe, C., and Shope, J.. 2000. The Interstate River Compact As a Water Allocation Mechanism: Efficiency Aspects. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 82(4), 10061015.Google Scholar
Bennett, L., Ragland, S., and Yolles, P.. 1998. Facilitating International Agreements through an Interconnected Game Approach: The Case of River Basins. In: Just, R. and Netanyahu, S. (eds.), Conflict and Cooperation on Transboundary Water Resources. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 6185.Google Scholar
Bhaduri, A., and Barbier, E.. 2008. International Water Transfer and Sharing: The Case of the Ganges River. Environment and Development Economics, 13(1), 2951.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Block, P., and Strzepek, K.. 2010. Economic Analysis of Large-Scale Upstream River Basin Development on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia Considering Transient Conditions, Climate Variability, and Climate Change. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 136(2), 156166.Google Scholar
Brochmann, M. 2012. Signing River Treaties: Does It Improve Cooperation? International Interactions, 38, 141163.Google Scholar
Dinar, A., Blankespoor, B., Dinar, S., and Kurukulasuriya, P.. 2010. Does Precipitation and Runoff Variability Affect Treaty Cooperation between States Sharing International Bilateral Rivers? Ecological Economics, 69, 25682581.Google Scholar
Dinar, A., De Stefano, L., Nigatu, G., and Zawahri, N.. 2019. Why Are There So Few Basin-Wide Treaties? Economics and Politics of Coalition Formation in Multilateral International River Basins. Water International, 44(4), 463485.Google Scholar
Dinar, A., and Hogarth, M.. 2015. Game Theory and Water Resources: Critical Review of Its Contributions, Progress and Remaining Challenges. Foundations & Trends in Microeconomics, 11(1–2),1139.Google Scholar
Dinar, A., and Nigatu, G.. 2013. Distributional Considerations of International Water Resources under Externality: The Case of Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt on the Blue Nile. Water Resources and Economics, 2–3, 116.Google Scholar
Dinar, A., and Wolf, A. T.. 1994a. International Markets for Water and the Potential for Regional Cooperation: Economic and Political Perspectives in the Western Middle East. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 43(1), 4366.Google Scholar
Dinar, A., and Wolf, A. T.. 1994b. Economic Potential and Political Considerations of Regional Water Trade: The Western Middle East Example. Resources and Energy Economics, 16, 335356.Google Scholar
Dinar, A., and Wolf, A. T.. 1997. Economic and Political Considerations in Regional Cooperation Models. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 26(1), 722.Google Scholar
Dinar, S. 2009. Scarcity and Cooperation along International Rivers. Global Environmental Politics, 9(1), 107133.Google Scholar
Dinar, S., and Dinar, A.. 2003. Recent Developments in the Literature on Conflict and Cooperation in International Shared Water. Natural Resources Journal, 43(4), 12171287.Google Scholar
Dinar, S., and Dinar, A.. 2016. International Water Scarcity and Variability: Managing Resource Use across Political Boundaries. Oakland: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Dinar, S., Dinar, A., and Kurukulasuriya, P.. 2007. SCARPERATION: An Empirical Inquiry into the Role of Scarcity in Fostering Cooperation between International River Riparians. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 4294, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Dinar, S., Dinar, A., and Kurukulasuriya, P.. 2011. Scarcity and Cooperation along International Rivers: An Empirical Assessment of Bilateral Treaties. International Studies Quarterly, 55, 809833.Google Scholar
Dinar, S., Katz, D., De Stefano, L., and Blankespoor, B.. 2015. Climate Change, Conflict, and Cooperation: Global Analysis of the Effectiveness of International River Treaties in Addressing Water Variability. Political Geography, 45, 5566.Google Scholar
Dombrowsky, I. 2007. Conflict, Cooperation and Institutions in International Water Management. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Fisher, F., and Huber-Lee, A.. 2005. Liquid Assets: An Economic Approach for Water Management and Conflict Resolution in the Middle East and Beyond. Washington, DC: RFF Press.Google Scholar
Frisvold, G., and Schimmelpfenning, D.. 1998. Potential for Sustainability and Self Enforcement of Trans-Boundary Water Agreements. In: Just, R. E. and Netanyahu, S. (eds.), Conflict and Cooperation on Trans-Boundary Water Resources. Norwell: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 2739.Google Scholar
Houba, H., Pham Do, K. H., and Zhu, X.. 2013. Saving a River: A Joint Management Approach to the Mekong River Basin. Environmental and Development Economics, 18, 93109.Google Scholar
Jeuland, M., and Whittington, D.. 2014. Water Resources Planning under Climate Change: Assessing the Robustness of Real Options for the Blue Nile. Water Resource Research, 50(3), 20862107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Just, R. E., and Netanyahu, S. (eds.). 1998. Conflict and Cooperation on Trans-Boundary Water Resources. Norwell: Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar
Kali, E., and Fishelson, G.. 1993. Water and Peace: Water Resources and the Arab-Israeli Peace Process. Westport: Praeger.Google Scholar
Katz, D., and Moore, M.. 2011. Dividing the Waters: An Empirical Analysis of Interstate Compact Allocation of Transboundary Rivers. Water Resources Research, 47(6), W06513.Google Scholar
Kilgour, D., and Dinar, A.. 2001. Flexible Water Sharing within an International River Basin. Environmental and Resource Economics, 18(1), 4360.Google Scholar
Krutilla, J. 1967. The Columbia River Treaty: The Economics of an International River Basin Development. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Mas-Colell, A., Whinston, M. D., and Green, J. R.. 1995. Equilibrium and Its Basic Welfare Properties. In: Mas-Colell, A., Whinston, M. D., and Green, J. R (eds.), Microeconomic Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 545577.Google Scholar
Mitchell, S., and Zawahri, N. A.. 2015. The Effectiveness of Treaty Design in Addressing Water Disputes. Journal of Peace Research, 52(2), 187200.Google Scholar
Netanyahu, S., Just, R. E., and Horowitz, J.. 1998. Bargaining over Shared Aquifers: The Case of Israel and the Palestinians. In: Just, R. and Netanyahu, S. (eds.), Conflict and Cooperation on Trans-Boundary Water Resources. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 4160.Google Scholar
Nigatu, S. G. 2012. Essays on Resource Allocation and Management, Price Volatility and Applied Nonparametrics. PhD dissertation, Department of Economics, University of California, Riverside.Google Scholar
Nigatu, S. G., and Dinar, A.. 2015. Economic and Hydrological Impacts of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Eastern Nile River Basin. Environment and Development, Economics, 21(4), 532555.Google Scholar
Pham Do, K. H., and Dinar, A.. 2014. The Role of Issue Linkage in Managing Noncooperative Basins: The Case of the Mekong. Natural Resource Modeling, 27(4), 492518.Google Scholar
Shapley, L. S. 1953. A Value for N-Person Games In: Kuhn, H. W. and Tucker, A. W. (eds.), Contributions to the Theory of Games (AM-28), vol II (Annals of Mathematical Studies, 28). Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 307317.Google Scholar
Sigman, H., and Chang, H. F.. 2010. Implications of Globalization and Trade for Water Quality in Transboundary Rivers. In: Ringler, C., Biswas, A., and Cline, S. (eds.), Global Change: Impacts on Water and Food Security. New York: Springer, pp. 97111.Google Scholar
(TFDD) Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database. n.d. Oregon State University. Available at www.transboundarywaters.orst.edu/database/DatabaseIntro.html.Google Scholar
Tir, J., and Stinnett, D. 2012. Weathering Climate Change: Can Institutions Mitigate International Water Conflict? Journal of Peace Research, 49(1), 211225.Google Scholar
United Nations. 1997. Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses. Available at http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/8_3_1997.pdf. Accessed March 2, 2020.Google Scholar
Van den Brink, R., van der Laan, G., and Moes, N.. 2012. Fair Agreements for Sharing International Rivers with Multiple Springs and Externalities. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 63(3), 388403.Google Scholar
Whittington, D., Waterbury, J., and McClelland, E.. 1995. Toward a New Nile Waters Agreement. In: Dinar, A. and Loehman, E. T. (eds.), Water Quantity/Quality Management and Conflict Resolution. Westport: Praeger Publishers, pp. 167178.Google Scholar
Wu, X., and Whittington, D.. 2006. Incentive Compatibility and Conflict Resolution in International River Basins: A Case Study of the Nile Basin. Water Resources Research, 42, 115.Google Scholar
Zawahri, N., Dinar, A., and Nigatu, G.. 2014. Governing International Freshwater Resources: An Analysis of Treaty Design. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 16(2), 307331.Google Scholar
Zeng, Y., Houba, H., Dinar, A., and Marenc, M.. 2016. Damming Trans-Boundary Rivers: A Welfare Analysis of Conflict and Cooperation. Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper TI 2016-090/II. Available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2858182.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×