Water quantity and quality are deteriorating and the struggle among all common water users is likely to intensify. This may become even more visible in river basins that cross political boundaries of different countries. History reveals that in many situations, this mutual need may bring strategic cooperation rather than open conflict, and lead to peaceful solutions to water disputes. Over the last 67 years, we have witnessed only 37 severe water disputes globally, in comparison to 295 water cooperation treaties (UN Water 2008: 3).
Water quantity and quality are deteriorating and the struggle among all common water users is likely to intensify. This may become even more visible in river basins that cross political boundaries of different countries. Dr. Aneel Salman highlights in this paper the significance of shifting from techno-centric water governance models towards inclusive and sustainable hydro-diplomacy. The paper briefly looks at various transboundary cases of successful, unsuccessful and potential hydro-diplomacy cases to understand the various dimensions of shared water governance for South Asia, Africa and Europe.
