What is the relationship between transboundary water resources, conflict, and cooperation?
Everything society does, from its economy to its culture, depends in part on safe, stable access to water resources. Worldwide, freshwater ecosystems are severely stressed due to population growth, land degradation, and rapid urbanization. These ecological pressures can exacerbate social and political tensions when diverse interests compete for a shared water source. Competition for water resources can create tension and conflict, but more often serve as a platform for cooperation and communication. The benefits of cooperative frameworks for managing shared water resources can be realized at multiple scales, from local watersheds, to larger catchments shared among rural, municipal and industrial users within a single nation. Mechanisms such as cooperative planning and joint dispute resolution can build relationships that extend beyond competition between environmental or economic uses. With emphasis on the cooperative aspects of transboundary waters, riparian actors in shared basins wi
