Myths and Reality of Water Conflicts

Where water is scarce, competition for limited supplies can lead nations to see access to water as a matter of national security [Gleick, 1993]. Competition over the finite resource has led to conflict as evidenced by decades-long tensions between India and Pakistan (Indus River), Egypt and Sudan (Nile River), or Turkey and Syria (Euphrates River). Furthermore, water conflicts are common at the inter-sector, inter-community, inter-farm, inter- (and intra-) household level [Orr et al., 2009].

 

However, the myth that these tensions eventually erupt into “water wars” has been proven incorrect – “countries do not go to war over water, they solve their water shortages through trade and international agreements” [Barnaby, 2009]. From 1948 – 1999, 1,831 "international interactions" regarding international freshwater resources were recorded– 67% were cooperative, 28% were conflictive, and the remaining 5% were neutral or insignificant (see (Image 2.6-1); [Wolf et al., 2003]).

 

For over 4,000 years, nations have observed fundamental ground rules governing water use. The history of international water treaties dates as far back as 2500 BC when the two Sumerian citystates of Lagash and Umma drafted an agreement ending a water dispute along the Tigris River - often said to be the first treaty of any kind⁴. In 1790 BC, the Code of Hammurabi, which is considered the first document on basic rules governing the use of water in agriculture, was written for the country of Sumer. Many of the Code of Hammurabi’s tenets have been integrated into current legal institutions around the world [Phelps, 2007]. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), more than 3,600 treaties related to international water resources have been drawn up since 805 AD. While the majority deal with navigation and boundary demarcation, the focus has shifted in the last century towards the use, development, protection and conservation of water resources⁵ (see (Image 2.6-1)).