The regulation of shared water resources has emerged as one of the most fundamental elements for ensuring international stability and assisting in socio-economic and sustainable development. Major developments have taken place in the last decade in international water law, providing both opportunities and challenges to lawyers concerned with this field of international law. Yet a large number of international watercourses remain without agreements regulating their sharing, management or protection. Moreover, a large portion of the existing agreements are not inclusive; and for one reason or the other, they exclude some of the riparians. And with water being a limited and finite resource, and with the steady increase in population, urbanization and environmental degradation, the competing demands of the riparian States will continue to grow sharper and more complex. This book aims to offer a contribution to the understanding and further elaboration and development of the basic principles of international water law.

Originally published as Colloques / Workshops – Law Books of the Academy, Volume 24.