WOLKITE UNIVERSITY

HYDRAULIC AND WATER RESOURCES

ENGINEERING
Water Law and Hydro-politics
Edited( T.A.)
By: Alemu Beyene (PhD)
February, 2024
 Course Contents
 The need for water law and hydro-politics
 Introduction to Water law
 Water governance
Global perspective of water
Water rights
Ethiopian policy framework of water management
 International water course governance
Assessment
• 50% continuous assessment [projects, quiz,assignm.]
• 50% final exam
THE NEED FOR A WATER LAW AND HYDRO-POLITICS
 Natural resources are the foundation of the economy
 Renewable natural resources, i.e. land, water, forests
and trees as well as other forms of Biodiversity,
which meet the basic needs for food, water, clothing
and shelter have now deteriorated to a low level of
productivity
 Estimates of deforestation, which is mainly for
expansion of rain fed agriculture, vary from 80,000 to
200,000 hectares per annum.
 The burning of dung as fuel instead of using it as a
soil conditioner is considered to cause a reduction in
grain production by some 550,000 tones annually
 Cont’d
 The genetic diversity of Ethiopia's domesticated
plants and its unique flora and fauna is increasingly
being eroded because:
the long history of disruptive interventions by the state
and the weakening of local management
the increasing needs of agriculture.
 The permanent loss in value of the country's [Ethiopia]
soil resources caused by soil erosion in 1990 was
estimated to be Birr 59 million.
 Only one percent of the potential of Ethiopia's vast
water resources for irrigated agriculture and
hydropower generation have been developed.
 Water quality deterioration and hydro-hegemony
 Cont’d

So, law and policy is important to manage:

deteriorating resources
Hydro-hegemony
 WATER LAW
Introduction
Water
 Water is nature's precious gift.
 It is a fundamental environmental resource which
sustains life.
 Water, as the source of life, is a permanent companion
to all living things.
 Relative to population growth and increasing human
needs and intervention, water gets scarcer.
 The major concern about water is the question of
ensuring sustainable supply and adequate quality.
 Cont’d
Water
Water is one of those natural resources that
often cut across local, national and interstate
boundaries.
Thus it is a unique resource that links local
communities as well as nation states.
Water is a shared resource than anything else
whether at local, national or at inter-state level.
 Cont’d
Law:
 Various names for the term Law in different languages
 According to Blacks law dictionary law consists of rules
of action or conduct issued by an authority.
 Law is a ruling of human conduct, imposed upon and
enforced among, the members of a given state (Gupta,
2003).
 The law creates:
legally enforceable expectations (rights);
duties to respect those rights;
means of redressing violations of rights (remedies)
 Cont’d
Water Law:
 Defined as the creation, allocation and distribution of
water rights and further consists of those aspects of
the law that are of primary concern in the
management of water resources (cf. Goldfarb 1988).
 is made up of all the provisions which in one way or
another govern the various aspects of water
management, i.e.
water conservation, use and administration, the
control of the harmful effects of water, water pollution
and so on ( Caponera 1992).
 Cont’d
International Water Law:
 Covers a combination of laws and policies in the
various fields of law related with water.
 Refers to the creation, allocation and distribution of
water rights and consists of those aspects of the law
that deals primarily with the management of water
resources (Goldfarb, 1988)
 Int’l Water law is the field of law dealing with the
ownership, control, and use of water as a resource.
 Cont’d
Sources of Water Law:
 Water Laws are Derived from:
The constitutional, administrative, civil, criminal,
agricultural, mining, natural resources, public health
legislation of a country,
Customs, usages or vested norms
Jurisprudence or Court orders from the Judiciary
Soft law, guidelines, conventions etc and
Scholarly opinions.
 Water law tended to cover the consumptive or non-
consumptive use and the sharing of water resources.
 Cont’d
Important terms:
 Riparian states :- an individual, institution or nation that
has ownership or sovereignty over territory along, or
across, a river. At the international level, the countries that
lie next to a river or countries that have an international
river passing through it are riparian states (Gupta, 2008).
 International Water Course:-“Watercourse” means a
system of surface waters and groundwater constituting, by
virtue of their physical relationship, a unitary whole and
normally flowing into a common terminus
 “International watercourse” means a watercourse, parts
of which are situated in different states (Part I, Article 2).
 Hydro-politics
 Hydro-politics is a complex arena of interaction between
riparian actors in the shared water basins.
 There are uncertainties about the demand and supply of the
scarce fresh water resources.
 The issues of water demand and supply are inherent in the
changing, societal, developmental, technological and ecological
circumstances.
 Upstream-downstream linkages needs Institutional framework
and governance system (existence of principles, rules and
procedural mechanisms)
 Riparian actors at local level (local and national frameworks)
 Riparian at national level (national level frameworks)
 Riparian at interstate level (international frameworks-
principles, rules and procedural mechanisms)
Fig. of Nile river (trans-boundary)
 Hydro-politics
Major Nile Water-Related Treaties and Agreements were
made during colonization. Most of these treatises were
done on the basis of colonial and economic territories
 The Anglo-Italian Protocol of April 15, 1891
 The Treaty between Great Britain and Ethiopia , May
15,1902
 The Tripartite (Britain-France-Italy) Treaty of
December 13, 1906
 The Agreement between Egypt and Anglo-Egyptian
Sudan of 7th May 1929
 Hydro-politics
 The interstate relationships are driven by national
interests, and often confront the riparian states with
complex issues and dilemmas of hydro-politics.
 Competition for water may catalyze conflict or
cooperation among riparian actors (communities,
regions or nations).
 A competition for the control of shared water resources
becomes a high national and regional security concern,
for instance, in Northeastern Africa and the Middle
East.
 Hydro-political complexities are more accentuated
between and among states that share rivers /lake basins.
 Hydro-politics
Case studies
Prepare a review in
 Hydro-politics and
 Hydro-Hegemony of Egypt over Nile river
 WATER GOVERNANCE
Introduction: Water governance is employed :
 To address the environmental, economic, security and
legal/institutional issues of water resources.
 To provide policy and regulatory mechanisms for
optimal utilization, management and protection of
water resources.
 To promote cooperative utilization, management and
protection among upstream and downstream actors at
local, national as well as interstate levels.
 To provide careful interpretation of traditional,
customary and conventional principles, practices and
institutions to facilitate optimal utilization, management
and protection of water resource .
 Global Perspective of Water
 All living things including plants, animals and humans depend on
water for survival, regeneration, development and socio-economic
transformation
 The process of evolution wouldn’t have taken place in the absence
of water
 The great world transformations emerged in the course of effective
utilization of water resources.
 The ancient civilizations were agriculture based in the river basins.
 They were products of the Agricultural Revolution.
 Irrigation was the main activity.
 Surplus production, division of labor, social class formation,
emergence of intellectual development (philosophy, religion, law,
art, cultural objects and symbols, etc.) were the results of the
agricultural revolution which created the conditions where a part
of the society enjoyed leisure time to think and articulate their
thoughts associated to the level of the material development.
 Global Perspective of Water
The following ancient hydraulic civilizations can be
mentioned:
 Indus Civilization in Indus Valley of India
 The Chinese Civilization in Howang Ho Valley
 The Egyptian Civilization in the Nile Valley
 The Sumerian Civilization in the twin river valleys of
Euphrates and Tigris
 Global Perspective of Water
An example of water utilization rule of ancient Sumeria is
shown in the following quote:
 “If anyone be too lazy to keep his dam in proper conditions,
and does not keep it so; if then the dam breaks and all the
fields are flooded, then shall he in whose dam the break
occurred be sold for money and the money shall replace the
corn which he has caused to be ruined”
 “If anyone open his ditches to water his crop, but careless,
and the water flood the field of his neighbor, then he shall
repay his neighbor, then he shall pay his neighbor with corn
for his loss”
 “If a man let out the water, and water overflow the land of
his neighbor, he shall pay 10 gur of corn for every gur of
gan of land flooded”.
 Water and Society
Water is Spiritually valued object:
In Christianity:
 Water is a symbol of purity; e.g., without water there
is no baptism(Cuuphaa or timket).
 Holy water(tsebeal) is used for spiritual purification
as well as for healing from illness.
In Islam:
 Water is the gift of the Almighty.
 The holy laws prescribe to protect water as key object
and symbol of cleanliness.
 Muslims go for pray washing with water & be clean.
 Water and Society
In Buddhism:
 Water is a symbol of harmony with nature.
 A special attention for the protection of the holy sites
includes rivers and water sites.
In Hinduism:
 As much as Gods are in nature, rivers are sacred
objects where the faithful immerse themselves to get
rid of all sins and evils in and around them.
 Annual rituals of immersing into Ganges River are
well known among the Hindu in India.
 Water Supply and Roles
A. The state of world’s water supply
 1360 million km3 on earth: 97 % in oceans (1348 million
cubic km), 3% (37 million cubic km) fresh water
 Run off: 40,000 cubic km
 Ground water: 8,000 000 cubic km
 Lakes and rivers: 200 000 cubic km
 Snow/ice cape: 29 000 000 cubic km
 Water vapor in the air: 13,000 cubic km
 Evaporation from land; 70,000 cubic km
 Precipitation over the land: 110,000 cubic km
 Precipitation over the seas: 390,000 cubic km
 Water quality is a function of ecologically/environmentally
reasonable use.
 Cont’d
B. Some Roles of Water
 Water as necessity
 No life on earth can be imagined without water. Human, animal,
plant, etc. life is dependent on water.
 Water as luxury
 Swimming, bathing, steam-bathing, canoeing, rafting, fishing,
etc. are luxuries people get enjoyment from water.
 Water as spiritual healing power
 Water is used as healing power in cultural and spiritual practices
 Water as development resource
 Growing food crops, producing organic row materials,
processing industrial products of all types-from flour to steel can
only be done with the use of water.
 Water is used irrigation activities, hydro-power projects, on the
river navigation, fresh water fishing, etc.
 Cont’d
 Water as connector
 Water connects communities, regions and countries across and
along which it flows.
 Water as means of cooperation
 The shared water provides the opportunity to cooperate in the
utilization, management and protection processes.
 Water as divider
 Communities, regions and countries may be divided as upstream
and downstream riparian communities or countries.
 Rivers and lakes may divide communities, regions and countries
along two shores of the water resources, thus causing competition
and dispute over the control of the resources.
 Water as object of competition
 The riparian communities and countries strive to maximize their
share of the benefit from the shared water resources.
 This often gives rise for competition among riparian communities,
regions or countries.
 Cont’d
Water as object of dispute
In the absence of legal and institutional framework
disputes over the shared waters may arise.
Water as political weapon
The actors who hold vantage positions may use
water as political influence and diplomatic
pressure.
Water as destructive power
Floods, avalanches, run-offs can be destructives
unless managed.
 WATER REQUIREMENTS
 Water requirement for human consumption on yearly basis:
 1m3 for drinking per person
 100m3 for domestic purposes (laundry, washing,
cleaning, etc.)
 20m3 for industrial and services related activities
 1000m3 for food production:
 The production of one tone of grain is roughly equivalent to
annual food requirement for a person.
 The production of 1tone of food grain requires 1000m3 of
water.
 Food producing is based on optimal soil moisture (for at
least 100 days during the year).
 WATER SCARCITY
 The birth of an additional person to this world, not compensated by
a death of another person, requires additional 1000m3 of water to
sustain the new person.
 If food is not produced in sufficient amount in a country due to lack
of water, the deficit food has to be imported.
 Importing food can be taken as importing water (in the form of
virtual water).
 1000Km2 land requires 1Km3 of water for optimal farming.
 The political economy of global trade in food staples is subordinate
to the global hydrological systems.
 Annually available water can increased with appropriate water
utilization, management and protection.
 Poor countries have less flexible options to mitigate the deficit in
annually available water.
 The industrialized countries have more flexible options to make up
for the water deficit (through food import)
WATER USE INTENSITY IN SELECTED
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS
 SHARED WATER
Water is shared resource at different levels:
 Local level:
Communities, villages, organizations may share
springs, streams, deep wells, lakes, harvested water
bodies, wetlands, etc.
 National level
Cross regional rivers, lakes, wetlands other water
bodies
 Inter-state level
Trans-boundary Rivers, trans-boundary lakes, trans-
boundary wetlands, cross-boundary dams, cross-
boundary Wetlands
 Shared Water Basins of Ethiopia
Water is shared resource at different levels:
• Local level:
– Communities, villages, organizations may share
springs, streams, deep wells, lakes, harvested water
bodies, wetlands, etc.
• National level
– Cross regional rivers, lakes, wetlands other water
bodies
• Inter-state level
– Trans-boundary Rivers, trans-boundary lakes, trans-
boundary wetlands, cross-boundary dams, cross-
boundary Wetlands
 Water rights
What is water right?
 Water right establishes a legally enforceable
expectation of an individual or a group of individuals
to use or own water and, if necessary, to exclude other
individuals or groups from this ownership or use.
 It involves duties to respect and means to redress
violations
 Water rights
What is the purpose of a water right system for society?
 To deal with scarcity
 Priorities
 Demand management
 To create equity and social acceptance
 To create predictability and to secure investments
 Administrative clarity (registration)
 Flexibility and transfer arrangement
 Environmental management
 Conservation
 Social and economic planning and development
 Cost recovery principle for development and management
 Water rights
Factors of influence for the many different water right
systems?
Scarcity (sub-tractibility )
Physical characteristics
Culture and religion
Political history and political environment
Legal tradition
Customary law (everywhere)
Roman (civil) law, Common law
Islamic law
Hindu and Buddhist law
 Water rights
Legitimate water uses (subject to righting)
Consumptive: Non-consumptive:
Drinking  Power Generation
Other Domestic  Transport
Livestock  Recreation
Irrigation  Environment & Nature
Industry  Fishery
Cooling
Aquaculture
 Water rights
Types of water rights
Absolute ownership right
Only restricted by law
Absolute right of use
Restricted by law, but no ownership
Relative right of use
Conditions: restricted transfer, effective use,
specification of use, attachment to land etc.
Permit, concession, license
Through administrative allocation
 Assignment
Investigate:
The main issues of investigation include:
 HH water supply pattern
 HH water utilization pattern
 Existing water protection mechanisms
 Economic analysis of HH water use and management
 Planned water protection mechanisms
 Problems observed towards best practice of HH water
utilization, management and protection
 Duration of assignment: one week
 Papers are submitted in soft copies (entire document
and presentation document)
 Presentation Transcript
“The next war in our region will be over water, not politics.” –Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary
General of the U.N. 1992
Hydro-Politics and Water Management The Personal is Political!
Overview • Origins • Water Wars and Arab-Israeli Conflict • Jordan River Basin • Israeli-Jordan
relations • Israeli-Lebanon relations • Hydro-Peace in Middle-East
Some questions to consider: • What is Israel’s role (as a State) in water scarcity in the Middle
East? • Are the risks of water scarcity distributed equally in these societies? • Who has more
access to water than others in the Middle East and why? • How is this access to water, and
therefore power, being legitimized and re-affirmed through politics in the region? • What is the
role of government in shaping the relationship between humans and water • What role does the
U.S. play if any?
Origins of Arab-Israeli Conflict • Fall of Ottoman Empire after WWI • 1940’s– Middle East
began significant water development programs (aquifers, dams, etc.) • UN Partitions Plan of 1947
and subsequent rejection
Water Wars • 1948 Arab-Israeli War • Six Day’s War (1967) • Israel Invasions • Golan Heights •
West Bank • Gaza Strip • Lebanon • 2002 Wazzani Incident
Jordan River Basin
Hydro-Peace in the Middle East
Closing Quote • “Water problems should neither be understood in naturalistic nor in liberal
technical terms, but instead as questions of political economy…Nature and natural resources do
not just sit around waiting to be consumed. Resources, to the contrary, are material social
constructs and products brought into being through economic and technological development,
through the fact that humans are producers and not just consumers of ‘nature’ (a nature, we might
add, that no longer really exists)” –Dr. Jan Selby, University of Sussex