International river basins first captured my interest while I worked on water resource issues in the US Department of the Interior during the 1970s and '80s. I was especially intrigued with the way the US resolved long and recurring disputes with Mexico over the shared use of the Colorado River. The elements of decision making common to basins throughout the world were present in these transboundary conflicts and their resolution. In 1985 I began collaborating with Dr. Eleonora Sabadell, who was then a specialist in water resources at George Washington University and who is now with the US...