Management of Water of International Rivers - Research Paper Example

It is hardly surprising that in more recent times there has a been heightened awareness that the world expects to confront a water crisis. These developments over the last century have transferred over to state development of water conservation strategies that require a balancing of two conflicting interests: the significance of water for human existence and need to protect the earth’s natural resources. However, in order for the world’s natural resources to be effectively conserved, national laws, practices and policies require some form of harmony with one another.

This is particularly so in the case of waterways, which not only adjourn different international borders but are frequently traversed and used by many nationals. For this reason, there have been attempts to harmonize national legal and policy strategies for the conservation of waterways at international law. In this regard, the management of international rivers is a particularly acute concern. The UN Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses 1997 (hereinafter the Convention) has set the criteria by which the management of water worldwide should be based.

3 Although national laws apply to the management of international rivers, those national laws are required to coincide with the criteria established by the Convention. In other words as a standard setting international legal instrument, the Convention should prevail over national laws of contracting states. However, this kind of expected compatibility has proven to be a difficult task in the management of waters on a national level relative to the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The conflicting practices and needs of border countries have created tensions and disputes over exploitation and the protection of the environment and territorial integrity issues.

For the International Tribunals having to resolve these tensions, a balance will have to be struck between the interests and needs of the nations’ involved and the international community.Managing the use of natural resources has among the key priorities of governments worldwide.