Routledge Handbook of Water Law and Policy

Summary

Water plays a key role in addressing the most pressing global challenges of our time, including climate change adaptation, food and energy security, environmental sustainability and the promotion of peace and stability. This comprehensive handbook explores the pivotal place of law and policy in efforts to ensure that water enables positive responses to these challenges and provides a basis for sound governance.

The book reveals that significant progress has been made in recent decades to strengthen the governance of water resource management at different scales, including helping to address international and sub-national conflicts over transboundary water resources. It demonstrates that ‘effective’ laws and policies are fundamental drivers for the safe, equitable and sustainable utilization of water. However, it is also shown that what might constitute an effective law or policy related to water resources management is still hotly debated. As such, the handbook provides an important and definitive reference text for all studying water governance and management.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Customary Water Rights and Legal Pluralism

2. A Comparative Analysis of the Public Trust Doctrine for Managing Water in the United States and India

3. Water Rights and Permitting: A South African Approach

4. The EU Approach for Integrated Water Resource Management: Transposing the EU Water Framework Directive within a National Context – Key Insights from Experience

5. Water Markets

6. Water Pollution and Water Quality: Shifting Regulatory Paradigms

7. Contaminants of Emerging Concern

8. The Human Right to Water

9. Governance and Regulation of Water and Sanitation Services Provision

10. Legal Aspects of Flood Management

11. Water Allocation and Management During Drought

12. Stakeholder Engagement for Inclusive Water Governance

13. Monitoring and Enforcement: The United States Clean Water Act Model

14. The Treaty Architecture for the Governance of Transboundary Aquifers, Lakes and Rivers

15. The Evolution of International Law Relating to Transboundary Waters

16. International Law and Transboundary Aquifers

17. Substantive Rules of International Water Law

18. The Significance of the Duty to Cooperate for Transboundary Water Resources Management under International Water Law

19. Joint Institutional Arrangements for Governing Shared Water Resources: A Comparative Analysis of State Practice

20. Strengthening the Implementation of Transboundary Water Agreements: Insights from the UNECE Water Convention Implementation Committee

21. The Role of Non-state Actors in the Development and Implementation of International Water Law

22. Hydro-hegemons and International Water Law

23. Water Resources and International Investment Law

24. Water Justice: Understanding the Philosophical Underpinning of Decision-making in the Context of International Water Governance

25. Adaptive Water Governance: A Theoretical Approach Reflected in the Mauri and Desaguadero River Basin Adaptation Plan

26. A Brief History of Global Water Governance

27. The Sustainable Development Goals in relation to Water Management: What Role for Legal Frameworks?

28. Water Security as an Evolving Paradigm: Local, National, Regional and Global Considerations

Conclusions

Andrew Allan, Sarah Hendry and Alistair Rieu-Clarke

Editor(s) Bio

Alistair Rieu-Clarke is Chair in Law at the Law School, University of Northumbria, UK.  

Andrew Allan is Senior Lecturer in National Water Law at the Centre for Water Law, Policy & Science, University of Dundee, UK. 

Sarah Hendry is Senior Lecturer in Water Law at the Centre for Water Law, Policy & Science, University of Dundee, UK.