Water Conflicts: Analysis for Transformation
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Author(s): Mark Zeitoun, Naho Mirumachi, and Jeroen Warner
Date: 2020
Topics: Conflict Prevention, Cooperation, Governance, Renewable Resources
Our focus in this book is on the conflicts over international transboundary watercourses, and on the massive impact that the tensions generate in the lives of millions of people and diverse ecosystems that are dependent on the flows. We are not talking about water wars; we are talking about dried-up riverbeds, depleted aquifers, verbal sparring, and diplomatic fallout that result from interstate water arrangements that are neither equitable nor sustainable. While these conflicts may not take the form of overt violence between states, harm is nevertheless inflicted—most often on vulnerable and marginalized individuals and communities. There are serious implications for the livelihoods of those who directly depend on the river, as well as for others well beyond the immediate basin boundary.