The Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses, commonly referred to as the UN Watercourses Convention, is an international treaty, adopted by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

on 21 May 1997, pertaining to the uses and conservation of all waters that cross international boundaries, including both surface and

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...

. "Mindful of increasing demands for water and the impact of human behavior", the UN drafted the document to help

conserve Conserve may refer to: * Conserve (condiment), a preserve made from a mixture of fruits or vegetables * Conserve (NGO), an Indian environmental organization * Conserve (publisher), a Dutch publisher * Conserved sequence, a protein or nucleic aci ...

and manage

water resources Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slight ...

for present and future generations. From the time of its drafting, the Convention took more than 17 years to enter into force on 17 August 2014. With the treaty having been ratified by just 36 states, the majority of countries, especially the key ones, remain outside its scope. The convention, however, is regarded as an important step in establishing international law governing water. In northern hemisphere autumn of 2008, the UN began reviewing a law proposed by the

International Law Commission The International Law Commission (ILC) is a body of experts responsible for helping develop and codify international law. It is composed of 34 individuals recognized for their expertise and qualifications in international law, who are elected by t ...

to serve similar purpose to the unratified document, but was considering adopting the proposal as guideline rather than immediately attempting to draft it into law.

Background

The

(ILC) was requested by the United Nations in 1970 to prepare viable international guidelines for water use comparable to

The Helsinki Rules on the Uses of the Waters of International Rivers The Helsinki Rules on the Uses of the Waters of International Rivers is an international guideline regulating how rivers and their connected groundwaters that cross national boundaries may be used, adopted by the International Law Association (ILA) ...

, which had been approved by the

International Law Association The International Law Association (ILA) is a non-profit organisation based in Great Britain that — according to its constitution — promotes "the study, clarification and development of international law" and "the furtherance of international ...

in 1966 but which failed to address

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characterist ...

s that were not connected to a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

. After the ILC completed its project in 1994, the UN Sixth Committee drafted the Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses based on their proposal. The General Assembly adopted the document on 21 May 1997 with only three dissenting in a vote of 106.

Provisions

The document sought to impose upon

UN member states The United Nations member states are the sovereign states that are members of the United Nations (UN) and have equal representation in the United Nations General Assembly, UN General Assembly. The UN is the world's largest international o ...

an obligation to consider the impact of their actions on other states with an interest in a water resource and to equitably share the resource, mindful of variant factors such as population size and availability of other resources. Each member state that shares in a resource is required to provide information to other sharing states about the condition of the watercourse and about their planned uses for it, allowing sufficient time for other sharing states to study the use and object if the use is perceived to be harmful. The document permits a state with urgent need to immediately utilize a watercourse, providing that it notifies sharing states both of the use and the urgency. In the event that a use is perceived to be harmful, it requires member states to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution, appealing for arbitration as necessary to uninvolved states or international organizations such as the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

. The treaty also requires states to take reasonable steps to control damage, such as caused by

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

or the introduction of species not native to the watercourse, and imposes an obligation on states that damage a shared water resource to take steps to remedy the damage or to compensate sharing states for the loss. It includes provisions for managing natural damage to waterways, such as caused by

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

, and mandated that sharing states notify others immediately of emergency conditions related to the watercourse that may affect them, such as

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

ing or

waterborne diseases Waterborne diseases are conditions (meaning adverse effects on human health, such as death, disability, illness or disorders) caused by pathogenic micro-organisms that are transmitted in water. These diseases can be spread while bathing, washing ...

Article 7 controversy

Article 7 of the document, entitled, "Obligation not to cause significant harm," requires that member states "in utilizing an international watercourse in their territories ... take all appropriate measures to prevent the causing of significant harm to other watercourse states" and compensate sharing states for any such harm. According to

Stephen McCaffrey Stephen Conolley McCaffrey (born 1945) is an American legal academic. McCaffrey earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado, followed by a Juris Doctor at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Dr. Jur. from the University ...

of the

McGeorge School of Law University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law is a private, American Bar Association (ABA)-approved law school in the Oak Park neighborhood of the city of Sacramento, California. It is part of the University of the Pacific and is located on t ...

, this is "the most controversial provision" of the Convention, with conflict stemming from the fact that a state may have legitimate uses for a watercourse in its nation that can negatively impact other nations.McCaffrey, "Chapter 2: The UN Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses", 20-21. He offers the following example:

Suppose ... upstream State A has not significantly developed its water resources because of its mountainous terrain. The topography of the downstream states on the watercourse, B and C, is flatter, and they have used the watercourse extensively for irrigation for centuries, if not millennia. State A now wishes to develop its water resources for hydroelectric and agricultural purposes. States B and C cry foul, on the ground that this would significantly harm their established uses.

McCaffrey indicates that controversy here stemmed from the UN's adaptation of text by the ILC with the intention of strengthening the obligation to do no harm, as the ILC's language more heavily emphasized the "equitable utilization", or balance of the various needs of the states.McCaffrey, "Chapter 2: The UN Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses", 21.

References

External links

Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses
United Nations
International Water Law, Research Guide International Law

Peace Palace Library The Peace Palace Library is a collection of studies and references specializing in international law. It is located in The Hague, Netherlands, and was established to support the Permanent Court of Justice. Description The library is one of ...

.
Introductory note by Stephen McCaffrey, procedural history and audiovisual material
on the ''Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses'' in th

* ttp://legal.un.org/avl/ls/McCaffrey_IW.html Lecture by Stephen McCaffreyentitled ''The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses'' in th
Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law
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Background

Provisions

Article 7 controversy

References

Further reading

External links