Harnessing the Benefits of Water Cooperation in an Increasingly Complex World

Mar 21, 2025 | Susanne Schmeier, Melissa McCracken, and Aaron Wolf
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In an era of apparent decline in international cooperation and rising crises, freshwater offers an area in which joint approaches remain absolutely essential—especially since water often transcends the boundaries of nation-states. Cooperation has long been the preferred approach in dealing with water resources shared with neighboring countries. Since the first—and so far, only—water war in 2550 B.C.E., states have favored cooperative action over conflict to manage, protect, or develop our planet’s 313 transboundary surface water basins and 468 transboundary aquifers.

Yet, while history has favored cooperation in managing transboundary waters, this trend is under threat. Increasing nationalism, a decline in treaty ratifications and joint institutions, and decreasing commitment to shared principles and norms, especially in environmental policy, signal a troubling shift towards unilateral action. This will have severe repercussions for ecosystems, people, and entire countries.