World's Major Rivers
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WWWWWWoorrlldd’’ss mmaajjoorr rriivveerrss AAnn IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn ttoo iinntteerrnnaattiioonnaall wwwwwwaatteerr llaawwwwww wwwwwwiitthh ccaassee ssttuuddiieess THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK WWWWWWoorrlldd’’ss mmaajjoorr rriivveerrss An introduction to international water law with case studies Colorado River Commission of Nevada 555 E. Washington Avenue, Suite 3100 Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 Phone: (702) 486-2670 Website: http://crc.nv.gov November 2008 Jacob (Jay) D. Bingham, Chairman Ace I. Robinson, Vice Chairman Andrea Anderson, Commissioner Marybel Batjer, Commissioner Chip Maxfield, Commissioner George F. Ogilvie III, Commissioner Lois Tarkanian, Commissioner George M. Caan, Executive Director Primary Author: Daniel Seligman, Attorney at Law Columbia Research Corp. P.O. Box 99249 Seattle, Washington 98139 (206) 285-1185 Project Editors: McClain Peterson, Project Manager Manager, Natural Resource Division Colorado River Commission of Nevada Sara Price Special Counsel-Consultant Colorado River Commission of Nevada Esther Valle Natural Resource Analyst Colorado River Commission of Nevada Nicole Everett Natural Resource Analyst Colorado River Commission of Nevada THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK World’s Major Rivers ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Daniel Seligman at the Columbia Research Corp. wishes to thank Jacqueline Pruner, attorney at law in Seattle, for her contribution to the section on water law in Canada and her valuable editing assistance throughout the entire document. The staff at the Murray-Darling Basin Commission and Goulburn-Murray Water in Australia provided important information about the Murray-Darling River system, patiently answered the author’s questions, and reviewed the draft text on water trading. Staff at the International Joint Commission in Washington, D.C., and the Prairie Provinces Water Board in Regina, Canada, also offered helpful comments on an earlier draft. The Northwest Power and Conservation Council provided insightful comments about the Columbia River treaty. i World’s Major Rivers THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK ii World’s Major Rivers FOREWORD “A river is water going somewhere,” a magazine writer recently mused about the pleasures of floating downstream.1 For some travelers, it is relaxation or adventure that entices them to the outdoors. For others, the river journey is spiritual, connecting the traveler, even on repeat visits, with something primordial. “No man ever steps into the same river twice, for it is not the same river, and he is not the same man,” the writer quoted the Greek philosopher Heraclitus.2 Rivers, of course, are more than mere roads on which to travel or contemplate. For thousands of years, their greatest use has been in supplying the most basic human needs: water for drinking and cooking, and for irrigation. In modern times, we have put rivers to far more diverse and sophisticated uses: electricity, navigation and industry. We pump and divert water, sending it hundreds of miles away, outside of its basin. We have also come to value, sometimes belatedly, the benefits that the natural river habitat provides for fish and wildlife. And yet an astonishingly small percent of all the water in the world – only three percent – is fresh water and usable by humans. Of this supply, roughly two-thirds is frozen in glaciers and the polar ice caps. Of the remaining amount, the vast majority is under ground. Only a tiny fraction is found in rivers and lakes.3 It is on this fragile supply that six and a half billion people on the planet depend. Given those physical constraints, it is not surprising that river managers are often preoccupied with problems on their river and seldom have the time to ask what they might learn from other rivers in other parts of the world. This book is intended to bridge that gap – to create a dialogue among those who seek to manage rivers, no matter where they are located, no matter what language is spoken on its shores. The primary research for this study was conducted between 2007 and 2008 by the Columbia Research Corporation, a consulting company in Seattle, Washington, with whom the Colorado River Commission of Nevada contracted. Preparation of the final report was completed by the staff of the Natural Resources Group of the Colorado River Commission of Nevada. 1 Julian Smith & Brian Truitt, Wet and Wild, From Fast & Furious to Slow & Soothing, Rivers Move Us to a Special Place, OPEN AIR , May 2, 2008 at 34. 2 Id. at 34. 3 Of the earth’s total supply of water, only .0001 percent is found in rivers and streams. www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/8b.html. iii World’s Major Rivers We hope the readers of this text will draw useful information from its pages. We welcome your comments. George M. Caan, Executive Director McClain L. Peterson, Project Manager Colorado River Commission of Nevada Manager, Natural Resource Division Colorado River Commission of Nevada Daniel Seligman, Attorney at Law Columbia Research Corporation iv World’s Major Rivers TABLE OF CONTENTS MAP OF INTERNATIONAL RIVERS STUDIED…………………………………………xiii TIMELINE: Water Tribunals and Treaties 805 to 2008 ............................................................. xv 1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 The Roots and Terminology of International Law........................................................... 5 1.1.1 The Origins of International Law ......................................................................... 5 1.1.2 International Law Today....................................................................................... 6 1.1.3 Treaties.................................................................................................................. 6 1.1.4 Customary Law..................................................................................................... 7 1.1.5 “Soft Law” ............................................................................................................ 8 2.0 INTERNATIONAL RIVERS............................................................................................... 9 2.1 Europe ............................................................................................................................ 12 2.1.1 The Danube River............................................................................................... 12 2.1.2 The Rhine River.................................................................................................. 18 2.2 Middle East .................................................................................................................... 27 2.2.1 The Jordan River................................................................................................. 28 2.2.2 The Tigris-Euphrates Rivers............................................................................... 37 2.3 Africa ............................................................................................................................. 43 2.3.1 The Nile River .................................................................................................... 44 2.4 Asia ................................................................................................................................ 50 2.4.1 The Indus River .................................................................................................. 50 2.4.2 The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna River System.............................................. 56 2.4.3 The Mekong River.............................................................................................. 61 2.5 Australia......................................................................................................................... 65 2.5.1 The Murray-Darling River.................................................................................. 66 2.6 South America................................................................................................................ 76 2.6.1 The Amazon River.............................................................................................. 77 2.6.2 The La Plata River .............................................................................................. 79 2.7 North America................................................................................................................ 83 2.7.1 The Colorado River (USA/Mexico) ................................................................... 83 2.7.2 The Columbia River (USA/Canada)................................................................... 88 2.7.3 The Nelson-Saskatchewan River (USA/Canada) ............................................... 94 2.7.4 The Mississippi River (USA) ............................................................................. 99 v World’s Major Rivers 3.0 PRINCIPLES OF WATER ALLOCATION UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW..... 105 3.1 Absolute Territorial Sovereignty: The Upstream State Prevails.................................. 106 3.2 Absolute Territorial Integrity: The Downstream State Prevails .................................. 111 3.3 The Doctrine of Equitable and Reasonable Utilization ............................................... 112 3.3.1 The U.S. Supreme Court’s Equitable Apportionment Doctrine ....................... 113 3.3.2 The Helsinki Rules............................................................................................ 114 3.3.3 The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses....................................................................................................