Page 23 - Water Every Drop Counts

AQUEOUS ACCORDS

Prominent water treaties of the world

There are a large number of examples where countries have
arrived at mutually acceptable and resilient agreements to
peacefully share a resource like water, critical for meeting
current needs and future development. A few examples :

NILE WATERS TREATY

Sharing of waters of river Nile is governed by treaties signed
in year 1929 and 1959. Agreed allocations between Egypt
and Sudan are upheld till today. But other riparian countries,
particularly Ethiopia, are planning development projects that
may necessitate renegotiating a more inclusive treaty.

INDIA - PAKISTAN

The Indus River System comprises of three western
rivers (Indus, Jhelum and Chenab) and three eastern
rivers (Sutlej, Beas and Ravi). With minor exceptions,
the Indus Water Treaty gives India the right of exclusive
use of all of the waters of the Eastern Rivers, and
their tributaries, before the point where they enter
Pakistan. Similarly, Pakistan has exclusive rights over
the Western Rivers.

US - MEXICO

US-Mexico Treaty for Utilization of Water of the
Colorado & Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande
gave Mexico a guaranteed annual quantity of water
from these sources. However, the treaty did not
specify the level of quality which became a problem
with rapid development in the southern USA in the
late 1950s. In 1974 an international agreement
guaranteed Mexico the same quality of water as
that being used in the United States.

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