1st Edition
New Perspectives on Transboundary Water Governance Interdisciplinary Approaches and Global Case Studies
This book presents a novel examination of transboundary water governance, drawing on global case studies and applying new theoretical approaches.
Excessive consumption and degradation of natural resources can either heighten the risks of conflicts or encourage cooperation within and among countries, and this is particularly pertinent to the governance of water. This book fills a lacuna by providing an interdisciplinary examination of transboundary water governance, presenting a range of novel and emerging theoretical approaches. Acknowledging that issues vary across different regions, the book provides a global view from South and Central America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, with the case studies offering civil society and public managers concrete situations that indicate difficulties and successes in water sharing between bordering countries. The volume highlights the links between natural resources, political geography, international politics, and development, with chapters delving into the role of paradiplomacy, the challenges of climate change adaptation, and the interconnections between aquifers and international development. With rising demand for water in the face of climate change, this book aims to stimulate further theoretical, conceptual, and methodological debate in the field of transboundary water governance to ensure peaceful and fair access to shared water resources.
This book will be of interest to students and scholars of water resource governance from a wide variety of disciplines, including geography, international relations, global development, and law. It will also be of interest to professionals and policymakers working on natural resource governance and international cooperation.
Presentation
Wagner Costa Ribeiro, Luis Paulo Batista da Silva, and Isabella Battistello Espíndola
Part 1: Interdisciplinary approaches to transboundary waters
1. Climate change, adaptation, and risk of conflict in international river basins: Beyond the conventional wisdom
Ken Conca
2. Exploring hydroparadiplomacy
Jeroen Warner
3. Framing the transboundary waters: Political scales, governance, and cooperation
Luis Paulo Batista da Silva, Wagner Costa Ribeiro, Isabella Battistello Espíndola
Part 2: Global case studies on surface water
4. Beyond conflict and cooperation in Central American transboundary river basins: Crossroads of actors and borders
Edith Kauffer
5. Southern African transboundary waters: Non-state actors in the Inkomati-Usuthu water management area and the Okavango river basin
Richard Meissner
6. The politics of water in the case of Syria
Marwan Safar Jalani and Hussam Hussein
7. Discussions on water governance in the Paraguay (South America) and Tagus (Luso-Hispanic) river basins
Flávia Darre Barbosa
Part 3: New perspectives on groundwater
8. U.S.-Mexico border groundwater environmental conservation: Mexico’s public policy analysis 1948-2022
Gonzalo Hatch Kuri and Yussef Ricardo Abud Russell
9. Saline water, peace and security: Analyzing the impact of desalination on transboundary groundwater interactions in the Middle East
Maureen Walschot
10. Managing the Guarani Aquifer System: The border as a unit of transboundary management
Maria Luísa Telarolli de Almeida Leite Pilar Carolina Villar
Biography
Luis Paulo Batista da Silva is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and the Program of Post-graduation in Geography at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Brazil.
Wagner Costa Ribeiro is a Professor of the Program of Post-graduation in Human Geography in the Department of Geography at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. He is the coordinator of the Transboundary Waters Work Thematic Area of WATERLAT-GOBACIT.
Isabella Battistello Espíndola is a Senior Officer at the International Water Association (IWA) in London, United Kingdom.
