ABSTRACT

"Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink": The Urgency of Transitional Solutions to International Riparian Disputes

By Colleen P. Graffy

This article discusses how conflicts that emerge when environmental problems and sovereign states intersect under traditional international law are reconciled, with a particular focus on the challenges facing the international community in dealing with the management of fresh water. The author focuses primarily on how nations seek to resolve their international riparian disputes in order to comply with international environmental law. The article analyzes the hydrological facts and environmental factors that create a sense of urgency in dealing with riparian disputes, reviews the traditional and non-traditional tools available to the international community to prevent and resolve disputes, identifies and analyzes compliance mechanisms in five non-navigational watercourse treaties and concludes with a review of essential mechanisms for a framework of transnational cooperation for the future. The author concludes that addressing these conflicts requires, first, the adoption of a new generation of legal principles and second, a new generation of legal perspective.