Cooperation in managing water as a transboundary resource

From WaterWiki

Transboundary Water Management and Cooperation

The experiences presented in the water fair support the World Water Development and the Human Development Reports by demonstrating how water can be a catalyst for cooperation rather than conflict. A mutually beneficial way to share the responsibility for maintenance of and investment in the water infrastructure used by Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan was founded through a bilateral cooperation. Key to this agreement was the establishment of a river basin commission which would ensure long term sustainability.

To halt the ongoing pollution and inefficient environmental management in the Danube River Basin, a project was implemented to enhance access to information and public participation. Engaging the public has become increasingly important to halting destructive activities and cleaning up effected ecosystems. Through a series of outreach programmes and training workshops, both the local and national capacities on water issues of the Danube were enhanced.

Advocacy, awareness-raising and capacity-building are important to transboundary water management. The benefits of local initiatives have far-reaching effects. The partnership programme IW-Learn transfers pertinent experiences across projects by fostering a "learning portfolio" for the GEF IW (International Waters) focal area projects. An important feature of this knowledge management strategy is Transboundary Waters Management (TWM), which builds capacity gradually in isolated projects.

The Globallast programme was implemented to combat the spread of invasive species in oceans and inland waterways. Thanks to active participation and cooperation on a global level, countries are able to address the spread of invasive species in transboundary waters.