Upreti, Trilochan, International Watercourses Law and Its Application ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

182 / International Watercourses Law and Its Application in South Asia Prospects and Problems of Nepalese Water Resources / 183immediately becomes surface runoff; out of the remaining 36%,some is retained in the form of snow and ice in the highHimalayas, while some percolates through the ground as snowand groundwater, and some is lost by evaporation andtranspiration. The water retained in the form of snow feeds therivers during the dry season. 7The available hydrological data reveals the estimated annualrunoff into the rivers of Nepal to be 220 billion cubic metres,with the average annual precipitation being 1530 mm per year. 8The influence of heavy rain during the monsoon causes widefluctuations in river flow, land erosion and landslides, which isaggravated by the extreme topographic relief and fragilegeological construction of the country. These factors cause therivers to carry high sediment loads during high flows.Moreover, the snow and glacier melt also brings heavy loads ofsediment during summer months, which is considered animportant factor determining the extent of water-related hazardsin the downstream territory. 9Nepal possesses energy in the form of hydropower andfirewood; no other energy resources have been discovered insignificant quantities (e.g. coal, oil, gas). Hydropower offershuge potential, but so far only 20% of the population haveaccess to electricity. Several studies suggest that Nepaltheoretically has 83000 MW of hydropower potential, morethan the combined total produced by the United States, Canadaand Mexico, of which about 43000 MW is presently consideredeconomically viable to harness. 10 Despite the abundance ofwater resources, only about one third of the population has got7 Ibid.8 C.K. Sharma, A Treatise on Water Resources of Nepal, Kathmandu:Sangita Sharma, 1999, p. 33.9 C. P. Sinha, "Sediment Management; A Co-operative Indo-NepalVentures" (1994) in 4 Water Nepal, pp. 158-163.10 S. P. Subedi, “Hydro-Diplomacy in South Asia: The Conclusion of theMahakali and Ganges River Treaties” (1999) in 93 AJIL, p. 954.access to safe water, and only 42% of the net calculated landhas been irrigated so far. 11This chapter aims to discuss and analyse the abundance of thewater resources in Nepal, their significance for the country’ssocio-economic development, and associated legal issues fromthe perspective of IWL. Furthermore, issues inextricablyintertwined with the transboundary freshwater resources,(ranging across hydrological, geographical, political, socioeconomic,and technical fields) will also be dealt with in thelight of existing legal principles and practices. The issues ofbilateral Indo-Nepal co-operation and of regional cooperationwith Bangladesh and Bhutan will also be covered, with a focuson water resource issues. These issues will be criticallyanalysed in the light of the previous chapter’s discussion ofequity4.2 Potential for Nepalese WatercoursesNepal is endowed with immense water resource’s potential,which, if utilised properly would be a boon both for herself andfor countries further downstream. The benefits could be appliedto several spheres, namely hydropower generation, theextension of irrigation facilities, and particularly navigation,which is crucial for the landlocked countries of Nepal andBhutan and the north-eastern states of India, which couldaccess the sea via Bangladeshi territory. Moreover, floodcontrol, industrial, recreational and other benefits arepossible. 12 However, the reality is that in order to gainmaximum benefits, such transboundary resources should bedeveloped in a holistic and integrated manner ignoring nationalbarriers. This is because, due to the nature of these rivers and ofthe geography of the area, the optimum site for the barrage (a11 Supra note 2. pp. 13-14.12 B. Crow, A. Lindquist & D. Wilson, Sharing the Ganges: The Politicsand Technology of River Development, New Delhi: Saga Pub., 1995,pp. 218-237.
184 / International Watercourses Law and Its Application in South Asia Prospects and Problems of Nepalese Water Resources / 185structure for storing water) might be in one state (e.g. Nepal),the benefits could be accrued in other states (e.g. India andBangladesh), and such benefits could be shared by yet morestates. 13 The principle of equity can dictate how this may beproperly resolved.It has been proved in several parts of the world that basin-widedevelopment of water resources could provide immensebenefits to all riparian nations/states, e.g. the Tennessee ValleyAuthority (USA), the Damodar Valley Corporation (India), theAmazon (Latin America), the Columbia (USA-Canada), theMekong (four states of southeast Asia), and likewise manyother IWC’s in various locations. This is so not only fortechnical reasons,however, but also for a multiplicity of socio-economic, legal,political and other inextricably linked reasons. The concept of‘drainage basin’ 14 or ‘watercourse’ 15 has been developed forthese reasons, as has the concept that a watercourse should beregarded as a single unit regardless of political borders. 16 In thebilateral sphere, the successful and renowned model of cooperationbetween the USA and Canada in regard to theColumbia River Treaty has been repeatedly put forward as onebasis for other such co-operative models. Hence, Indo-Nepalwater resources offer opportunities and challenges for overalldevelopment. 17From past experience in south Asia, the states concerned onlybecome involved in order to protect and preserve their own13 D. Gyawali, “Himalayan Waters; Between Euphoric Dreams andGround Realities” in K. Bahadur & M. P. Lama (eds), NewPerspectives on India-Nepal Relations, New Delhi: Har-Ananda Pub.,1995, p. 256.14 Article 1 Helsinki Rules in Report of the ILA, (1966), pp. 484-485.15 Article 1 of the UNCIW, 36 ILM, (1997), p. 721.16 H. A. Smith, The Economic Use of International Rivers, London: P.S.King & Son, 1931, p. 121.17 B. C. Upreti , Politics of Himalayan River Waters, New Delhi: NiralaPub., 1993, pp. 84-88.national interest at the cost of those of other states, and toattempt to maximise their own advantage whilst ignoring theneeds of others. Weak and vulnerable states are always thelosers, because of their lesser capability in the diplomatic,strategic, economic and other spheres. Good examples are theconstruction of the Farakka Barrage by India, the Aswan Damby Egypt and the Three Gorges Dam currently underway inChina; 18 all of these projects are obviously against the letter andspirit of IWL. No state or organisation was actually able to stopthis kind of illegal construction. At the same time weakernations, such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Ethiopia, are prohibitedfrom enjoying equitable utilisation of their own resources dueto the complications of IWL, a problem which will be analysedbelow. As to the relationship that India has had with Nepal andwith Bangladesh in the sphere of water resources, its nature hasnot always been friendly or even satisfactory, when consideringthe Sarada, Kosi and Gandak projects in the former case, andthe Farakka Barrage in the latter. 19 However, by consideringthese issues in the light of the concept of equity in waterresource utilisation, the divergent interests of all riparian statescan be addressed, thus enhancing the prospects of constructiveand meaningful co-operation in the future.The case of Nepalese water resource development is unique incomparison with the circumstances in other countries; Nepalhas huge water resources available with a tiny land arearequiring irrigation and a very low demand for hydroelectricity.Conversely, India has got a huge territory but sufficient water isnot available during the dry season, either for herself or forBangladesh. However, development of these resources could beundertaken for the benefit of the region, for which co-operationamong the nations of south Asia is essential. On the contrary,the demand for water, particularly in the dry season indownstream countries is acute, meaning that a regulated flow of18 www.internationalwaterlaw.org “China completes Three GeorgesDam.”19 Supra note 17, pp. 106-115.
Page 2 and 3:
International WatercoursesLaw and I
Page 4 and 5:
PrefaceIn this book, the author has
Page 6 and 7:
International Treaties and other Do
Page 8 and 9:
ADBAJILAus.JILAYBLADPILALCCASEANAGO
Page 10 and 11:
GlossaryMap of the Ganges BasinThe
Page 12 and 13:
Chapter- ThreeEquitable Utilisation
Page 14 and 15:
Introduction / 1 2 / International
Page 16 and 17:
Page 18 and 19:
Page 20 and 21:
Introduction / 13 14 / Internationa
Page 22 and 23:
16 / International Watercourses Law
Page 24 and 25:
Page 26 and 27:
Page 28 and 29:
Page 30 and 31:
Page 32 and 33:
Page 34 and 35:
Page 36 and 37:
Page 38 and 39:
Page 40 and 41:
Page 42 and 43:
Page 44 and 45:
Page 46 and 47:
Page 48 and 49:
Page 50 and 51:
Page 52 and 53:
Page 54 and 55:
Page 56 and 57: 84 / International Watercourses Law
Page 64 and 65: 100 / International Watercourses La
Page 66 and 67: Equitable Utilisation / 103 104 / I
Page 104 and 105: Article 6 of the Rio Declaration as
Page 144 and 145: Legality River Linking Project / 25
Page 154 and 155: the USA to construct such a huge pr
Page 156 and 157:
280 / International Watercourses La
Page 158 and 159:
Page 160 and 161:
Page 162 and 163:
Page 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173:
Page 174 and 175:
Page 176 and 177:
Page 178 and 179:
Page 180 and 181:
Page 182 and 183:
Page 184 and 185:
Page 186 and 187:
Page 188 and 189:
Page 190 and 191:
Page 192 and 193:
Page 194 and 195:
Page 196 and 197:
Page 198 and 199:
show all

Upreti, Trilochan, International Watercourses Law and Its Application ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?