Water resources management is receiving increasing attention worldwide due to the considerable challenges that face the quantitative and qualitative aspects of water. These challenges are attributed to a multitude of factors, including the significant increase in population, urbanization and environmental degradation. Such factors are more apparent in the South Asian Sub-continent (Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan) than many other parts of the world. Moreover, the problems of the Sub-continent are compounded by the fact that it encompasses some 20 major international rivers. As a result,...

The monograph discusses the various challenges facing shared water resources in South Asia, and the response of most these countries, presented in their calls for water security. Consequently, negotiating new transboundary water treaties amongst South Asia’s riparian countries has become a daunting task, and enforcing existing ones remains a real challenge.

Notification of co-riparian states of planned measures on shared watercourses has been widely accepted as an established principle of international water law, and is codified and elaborated in the United Nations Watercourses Convention. However, despite this wide acceptance, differences have arisen on operationalizing notification, including on which riparians are required to undertake notification, and which riparians are entitled to it. Issues have also arisen on how to deal with the different types of responses that may ensue following notification. The World Bank has been financing...