FRESH WATER

Fresh wateris naturally occurring

wateron the Earths surface in ice
sheets, ice caps, glaciers, icebergs,
bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams,
and underground as groundwater in
aquifers and underground streams.

Limits of national jurisdiction and sovereignty

Outer space
national airspace

land territory
surface

internal waters
surface

Internal waters

territorial waters
airspace

contiguous zone
airspace[

territorial waters
surface

contiguous zone
surface

Territorial waters

international airspace

Exclusive Economic
Zone surface

international waters surface

Exclusive Economic Zone

international waters

Continental Shelf Surface

Continental Shelf
Surface extended

international seabed surface

Continental Shelf underground

Extended
Continental
Shelf
Undergroun
d

international seabed underground

land territory underground

Boundary River
A river which separates two states belongs to the respective territories of the states

which it separates.
Doctrine
of
the
Thalwegis
the
principle
in
which
theboundarybetween two political states separated by a
watercourse is denoted as the thalweg of that watercourse, if those
two states have agreed to use the thalweg definition. Various
states have also defined their watercourse international boundaries
by a median line, left bank, and right bank.
Middle of the Bridge Boundary- this principle draws the
boundary line between two States, regardless of the location of the
main channel of navigation in the river itself. Usually practiced to
divide cost of bridge construction.

Riparian States
States located on the bank of a natural watercourse (as a river) or sometimes

of a lake or a tidewater.
The upper-riparians base their claims on absolute territorial sovereignty,

claiming the right to do whatever they choose with the water regardless of
its effect on other riparian nations.
Downstream states, begin with a claim to the absolute integrity of the

river, claiming that upper-riparian nations can do nothing that affects the
quantity or quality of water that flows in the watercourse.

Nile River
Nile River Initiative (NBI) - February 1999

Rule of equitable
utilization
based on the concept that an international drainage basin is a coherent legal

and managerial unit, embodies a theory of restricted sovereignty under

which each nation recognizes the right of all riparian nations to use water
from a common source and the obligation to manage their uses so as not to
interfere unreasonably with like uses in other riparian nations.
Based on the idea that each state is entitled to a "reasonable share" of the

water.

The United Nations Convention

The United Nations General Assembly

codified the rule of equitable

utilization in Article 5 of its United Nations Convention on the NonNavigational Uses of International Watercourses. It was approved on May
21, 1997, by a vote of 1043.
Article 5 requires watercourse nations to utilize an international
watercourse in an equitable and reasonable manner with a view to
attaining optimal and sustainable utilization and benefits consistent with
adequate protection in the watercourse.
Article 7 requires watercourse nations, in utilizing an international
watercourse, to take all "appropriate measures" to prevent the
causing of significant harm to other watercourse nations. If
significant harm nevertheless is caused to another watercourse nation, the
nation whose use causes such harm must, in the absence of agreement
for the use, take all appropriate measures, having due regard for the
provisions of Articles 5 and 6 in consultation with the affected nation, to
eliminate or mitigate the harm and, where appropriate, to discuss the
question of compensation.

Danube River Case,

1997
(Hungary v. Slovakia)
In 1977, Hungary & Czechoslovakia entered into a treaty to build and

operate various structures on the Danube River. In 1989, Hungary

abandoned its part of the project.
The Court's opinion referred twice to the rule of equitable utilization and
did not mention the "no-harm rule." The Court's failure to mention the "noharm" rule despite Hungary's heavy reliance on the principle in its
pleadings confirms that the rule of equitable utilization is primary, and that
avoidance of harm is to be considered only in analyzing whether a
particular use or pattern of use is equitable.