Decision Support Models Under International Water Law

Abstract International water law (IWL) provides a framework and guiding principles for states to build cooperation on their transboundary water resources. IWL is codified in two global conventions, the Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses (1997) and the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (1992), and in the Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers (2008). The first action of cooperation called by these three instruments is the exchange of data between the riparian countries, complemented by the obligation of monitoring. Given the complexity of water resources, especially when they are underground, these obligations are a necessity to fully understand their regime and thus adopt adequate policies and decisions for their sustainable management. This chapter highlights the requirement for decision support models in IWL instruments and their role, with illustration by specific case studies.