Damming Disputes: Conflict Prevention in Water Management
Publisher: Water
Author(s): David Katz and Nidhi Nagabhatla
Date: 2023
Topics: Conflict Prevention, Cooperation, Renewable Resources
Water has a unique combination of qualities that contributes to the many conflicts with respect to its control and use. Water is necessary for the basic survival of all life forms. It is also utilized on a large scale across a wide range of economic sectors, and its use has to be coordinated with the provision of many other basic services, such as energy and food. Unlike many other natural resources, water also has economic and ecological value when left in situ, i.e., when it is not extracted for human use, as it sustains ecosystems and provides humanity with ecosystem services. In addition, its supply is stochastic, meaning that users have to deal with significant uncertainty regarding not only the quantity of the resource but also its quality and the location and timing of its supply. Water security is a critical aspect of climate change, human security, and sustainable development, particularly in regions and communities where competing water usage, climate change impacts, and cross-border water agreements contribute to conflicts. Geopolitical factors, segregation, water availability, and access rights affect shared water agreements. Climate change further exacerbates water issues by altering precipitation patterns and triggering droughts, floods, and other scenarios that impact water availability and provisioning capacity for states and communities.