Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T13:28:36.614Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

International water transfer and sharing: the case of the Ganges River

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2008

ANIK BHADURI  and
EDWARD B. BARBIER
ANIK BHADURI
Affiliation:
International Water Management Institute, National Agriculture Science Centre Complex, New Delhi 110012, India, Email: [email protected]
EDWARD B. BARBIER
Affiliation:
Department of Economics and Finance, University of Wyoming, P.O. Box 3985, E. 1000 University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071, USA, Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The following paper is concerned with water sharing of the Ganges River between India and Bangladesh, with possible augmentation through water transfers from Nepal. We analyzed the case when water from Nepal can be transferred to Bangladesh through the upstream country, India, as the local geography only permits such water transfer. A game theoretic model is formulated to determine the optimal share of water diverted to Bangladesh by India, and the optimal amount of water transfer from Nepal. India may gain positive externalities from such water transfer. The positive externalities generated from water transfer from Nepal may influence the water share of both India and Bangladesh. In the absence of altruism, India would allow less water flow to Bangladesh than in the case when there is no provision to buy water from Nepal. We also explored whether positive externalities could induce India to buy water jointly with Bangladesh, and such a case will only occur if the countries possess altruistic concerns and share water according to an agreement.

Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , February 2008 , pp. 29 - 51
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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

Beach, H.L., Hamner, J., Hewitt, J.J., Kaufman, E., Kurki, A., Oppeneimer, J.A., and Wolf, A.T. 2000, Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Resolution: Theory, Practice and Annotated Reference, New York: United Nations University Press.Google Scholar
Bennett, L.L., Ragland, S.E., and Yolles, P. 1998, ‘Facilitating international agreements through an interconnected game approach: the case of river basins’, in Just, R.E. and Netanyahu, S. (eds), Conflict and Cooperation on Transboundary Water Resources, Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 61–85.Google Scholar
Bhaduri, A. 2005, ‘Political altruism of transboundary water sharing’, in Ph.D. Dissertation, ‘Transboundary water sharing between an upstream and downstream country’, University of Wyoming, Laramie.Google Scholar
Biswas, A.K. 2001, ‘Management of international rivers’, in Biswas, A.K. and Uitto, J.I. (eds), Sustainable Development of the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna Basins, New York: United Nations University Press, pp. 1–15.Google Scholar
Cai, X., McKinney, D.C., and Lasdon, L. 2001, ‘Solving nonlinear water management models using a combined genetic algorithm and linear programming approach’, Advances in Water Resources 24: 667–676.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crow, B. and Singh, N. 2000, ‘Impediments and innovation in international rivers: the waters of South Asia’, World Development 28: 1907–1925.Google Scholar
Dinar, A. and Wolf, A.T. 1994, ‘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: 43–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dinar, S. and Dinar, A. 2000, ‘Negotiating in international watercourses: diplomacy, conflict and cooperation’, International Negotiation 5: 193–200.Google Scholar
Green, G.P. and O'Connor, J.P. 2001, ‘Water banking and restoration of endangered species habitat: an application to the Snake River’, Contemporary Economic Policy 19: 225–237.Google Scholar
Hossain, I. 1998, ‘Bangladesh–India relationship: the Ganges Water–Sharing Treaty and beyond’, An American Review 25: 131–151.Google Scholar
Howe, C.W., Schurmeier, D.R., and Shaw, W.D. Jr. 1986, ‘Innovative approaches to water allocation: the potential for water markets’, Water Resource Research 22: 439–448.Google Scholar
Huda, A.T.M.S. 2001, ‘Constraints and opportunities for cooperation towards development of water resources in the Ganges Basin’, in Biswas, A.K. and Uitto, J.I. (eds), Sustainable Development of the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna Basins, New York: United Nations University Press, pp. 46–57.Google Scholar
Just, R.E. and Netanyahu, S. 1998, ‘International water resource conflicts: experience and potential’, in Just, R.E. and Netanyahu, S. (eds) Conflict and Cooperation on Transboundary Water Resources, Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 1–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khan, T.A. 1996, ‘Management and sharing of the Ganges’, Natural Resources Journal 36: 455–479.Google Scholar
Kilgour, D.M. and Dinar, A. 2001, ‘Flexible water sharing within an international river basin’, Environmental and Resource Economics 18: 43–60.Google Scholar
Leontief, W. 1946, ‘The pure theory of the guaranteed annual wage contract’, Journal of Political Economy 54: 76–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nishat, A. and Faisal, I.M. 2000, ‘An assessment of the institutional mechanisms for water negotiations in the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna System’, International Negotiation 5: 289–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Onta, I.R. 2001, ‘Harnessing the Himalayan waters of Nepal: a case for partnership for the Ganges Basin’, in Biswas, A.K. and Uitto, J.I. (eds), Sustainable Development of the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna Basins, New York: United Nations University Press, pp. 100–121.Google Scholar
Shah, R.B 2001, ‘Ganges and Brahmaputra: the outlook for the twenty-first century’, in Biswas, A.K. and Uitto, J.I. (eds), Sustainable Development of the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna Basins, New York: United Nations University Press, pp. 17–45.Google Scholar
Spulber, N. and Sabbaghi, A. 1994, ‘Economics of water resources: from regulation to privatization’, in Dinar, A. and Zilberman, D. (eds), Natural Resource Management and Policy, Boston: Kluwer Academic Publisher, pp. 235–269.Google Scholar
Varghese, B.G. 1997, ‘Water conflicts in South Asia’, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 20: 185–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolfe, A.T. 2001, ‘Water, conflict, and cooperation’, 2020 Focus 9, October 2001.Google Scholar