Definition of Conflicts

As outlined by [Phelps, 2007], water conflicts are “really an issue of allocation and equitable sharing more than anything else. Virtually all societies, cultural groups, populations, etc., are willing to abide with a larger or smaller share of the water available as long as it is an equitable sharing of the resource. Drought alone does not start conflicts. It is the lack of equitable allocation during droughts that creates conflict.”

 

Water plays different roles in conflict – either as the “object” (i.e. states quarrel over scarce resources, water pollution), “instrument” (i.e. states are in conflict over another issue and an the upstream state threatens to divert an international river as a way to harm or exert pressure on the downstream state), or “catalyst” (e.g. water shortages create political instability in turn increasing international instability) [Mostert, 2003]. Transboundary water disputes occur whenever demand for water is shared by any sets of interests (i.e. political, economic, environmental, or legal) [Wolf, 2003].

 

The degree of seriousness ranges from competition to tension to conflict to dispute and finally armed conflict [Cosgrove, 2003]. The level and scale of water conflicts can also vary greatly – disputes at the village level, within national political sub-divisions, border disputes between two nations, or tension involving many nations that do not necessarily share borders. Furthermore, these conflicts may be political or economic; they may be diplomatic or violent [Gleick, 1993].