Conflicts and Resolutions - PowerPoint Presentation

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Conflicts and Resolutions of Shared Waters in the AmericasAlfonso RiveraChief HydrogeologistGeological Survey of Canada

46th IAH 2019 World CongressMalaga, Spain, September 22-27, 2019

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To solve one of the grand challenges facing society today: energy, water, climate and food, natural scientists and social scientists must work together. For the water crisis, conflicts, challenges, or water security, a new framework is required for bringing together hydrology and social sciences.

Conflicts and resolutions of shared

waters

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Hypotheses:Water problems and water conflicts may have solutions but no resolutions.Peoples and cultures may stand or fall, not on the absolute amount of water, but on how equitably—politically, economically and socially—the system divides that resource.Hydrology alone cannot solve water problems or resolve conflicts; social sciences need to be combined with hydrology.

Conflicts and resolutions of shared

waters

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Conflicts on shared waters may arise on any of the following :RiversLakes WetlandsAquifersOr a combination of these.

Conflicts and resolutions of shared

waters

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Examples from real, or apparent situations of conflicts of shared water in the Americas

CGSM in

Colombia

Brazil-Argentina-Paraguay-Uruguay

Mexico-U.S.

Costa Rica-Nicaragua

Bolivia-Chile

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Bolivia-Chile: every litre counts

Bolivia

Chile

Dispute: 200

lps

Chile says:

The

Silala

is surface water belonging to the Loa and Pacific basins

Bolivia says: The Silala is groundwater, emerging in Bolivia

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Bolivia-Chile: every litre counts

Bolivia

Chile

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Bolivia-Chile: every litre counts

President Evo Morales of Bolivia at the GW source, 4500 m asl

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Bolivia-Chile: every litre counts

2016, Chile filed a complaint against Bolivia in the ICJ, claiming that the

Silala

is an international river and asserts its right to equitable and reasonable utilization (UN’s Watercourses Convention).

Bolivia claims ownerships of the water and demands payment from Chile for their use.

The applicability of Int. Water Law principles to the

Silala

will

depend on how

the

Silala

watershed is described

and categorized.

Expertise showed that the

Silala

springs are naturally occurring, but little is known about the extent, volume and flow, of an interrelated transboundary aquifer traversing the Bolivian-Chile border.

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Brazil-Argentina-Paraguay-Uruguay: An unreachable governance system for the Guarani?

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Brazil-Argentina-Paraguay-Uruguay: An unreachable governance system for the Guarani?

A first

period (2002–2010)

of positive

science collaboration of the

four

countries,

culminated with the adoption

of the

GAA in August 2010.

A

second period (2010–2017)

was marked

by a slowdown in

transboundary

cooperation. During this

period, Argentina and Uruguay,

and later Brazil, ratified

the GAA.

A

third phase

emerged in 2018 when Paraguay ratified

the GAA allowing it to enter into force.

Future

implementation of the

GAA countries

should build on the

good practices

,

stemming

from the first period of

transboundary cooperation (

science

).

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Brazil-Argentina-Paraguay-Uruguay: An unreachable governance system for the Guarani?

No water conflicts, but issues of water

security

and

sovereignty

 

GAA designed to ensure multiple, rational, sustainable and equitable uses by the four countries sharing the TBA.

Concerns

about safeguarding

sovereignty

and national

interests

initially discouraged

governments

to this agreement

.

A breakthrough in the implementation

on

the

UN Law

of Transboundary

Aquifers

.

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Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, Colombia: same country, multiple stakes

Colombia

Alluvial Plain and Magdalena River on a Landsat image from 1987

5

km

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Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, Colombia

Multiple users / multiple stakes: Fishermen, Cattle ranchers, Banana plantations, Coal mines, Towns…

Excessive wastes into the lagoon create anoxic conditions

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Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, Colombia: same country, multiple stakes

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Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, Colombia: same country, multiple stakes

Integrated conceptual model of the SW/GW dynamics, and a detailed water balance.

Government and stakeholders agreed and compromise in managing SW/GW for all.

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Costa Rica-Nicaragua: is Google’s fault?

Costa Rica

Nicaragua

Central America

Conflict zone

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Conflict zone

Costa Rica-Nicaragua:

is Google’s fault?

1 km

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Costa Rica-Nicaragua:

is Google’s fault?

1 km

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Costa Rica v. NicaraguaBased on a Google map, in 2010 Nicaragua claimed that the delta of Rio San Juan should form the new international border with Costa Rica. Nicaragua began dredging a canal to force the river go through the area called Isla Portillos, marking the international boundary.Google recognized its “minimum error” and corrected the satellite-based map.Isla Portillos is a wetland listed in the RAMSAR convention fed by groundwater.In 2011, Costa Rica filed a complaint against Nicaragua in the International Court of Justice. The Court of Justice provided provisional measurements to assess the damages caused by the artificial canals.In 2017 the Court of Justice ruled that Costa Rica had sovereignty over the whole northern part of Isla Portillo, the wetland.

Costa Rica-Nicaragua:

is Google’s fault?

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Mexico-USA: so close and yet so far…

3 150 km of waters between Mexico and the USA: Two Rivers

Colorado River

Rio Grande

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Mexico-USA:

so close and yet so far…

3 150 km of waters between Mexico and the USA: 11 transboundary aquifers, or are there 35?

UNITED STATES

MEXICO

(Sanchez et al., 2016)

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Mexico-USA: so close and yet so far…

Water security issues

San Diego

Tijuana

Juarez

El Paso

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Intensive use of GW on both sides of the international border.Unsustainable water use practices.Increasing water conflicts.No international treaties or agreements concerning groundwater resources.Different water-management and governance approaches.

Mexico-USA:

so close and yet so far…

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Mexico-USA: so close and yet so far…

Asymmetries prevent full assessment, harmonization and shared management

.

S

cientific cooperation and social participation have succeeded in a few cases (Arizona/Sonora).

Mexico-US transboundary aquifers identified in the US do not correspond to those identified in Mexico.

Despite asymmetries, the US and Mexico have a long history of cooperation on water.

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Water Conflict

Bolivia-Chile

Groundwater

–

Solution– No resolution

Science

SocietyPolicy Int. Law enforcement

C. Rica-Nicaragua

River-GW-wetland

Water Conflict

–

No solution– No resolution– No cooperation

International law enforcement

Guarani

Trans aquifer

Water Security

–

Solution

–

Resolution

Science

Political will

Implementation

CGSM, Colombia

Wetland

Water Crisis

–

Solution

– No resolution

Science

Cooperation

Mexico-US

Aquifers

Water Challenges

–

Partial solutions

– No resolution

Asymmetries

Trust

Summary

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Conflicts arise with regard to access, allocation, development and management of water resources.There is trust in scientific cooperation, less trust in political cooperation.If involved from the beginning, society can play a very important role in resolutions.A new framework is required for bringing together natural sciences (hydrology) and social sciences.It should include include scientific, socioeconomic and political perspectives into an interdisciplinary socio-hydrology frame for resolving water disputes or disagreements.A collaborative framework embracing the best science to facilitate optimum resolutions.

Lessons learned

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Final world

Water disputes can be addressed through a combined scheme of knowledge (science), social participation and policies (agreements). Water conflicts that go unresolved become more dangerous as water becomes more scarce and global population increases.

Presentation based on the upcoming book:

Conflicts and resolutions of shared waters in the Americas

(Rivera, 2020)